Unravelling bacterial immunity against predatory bacteria: the last line of defencecore
BAC-MUNITY · Horizon Europe grant · 2026-04-01–2031-03-31
EC contribution
Total cost
Beneficiaries
About the data
Source: CORDIS (official EU open data), Horizon Europe. Framework HORIZON · call ERC-2025-STG · scheme HORIZON-ERC · topic ERC-2025-STG. CORDIS record →
Objective
In times of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR), natural predators of bacteria have great potential as alternatives. However, as with antibiotics, their efficacy is modulated by the ability of bacterial targets to develop resistance. For bacterial predators this relates specifically to understanding predator-prey interactions and particularly prey defence to attack and early stages of infection. However, in stark contrast to phage defence systems, little is known about bacterial prey resistance to predatory bacteria, and barely anything about prey bacterial immunity against predatory bacteria which is the last line of prey defence in the periplasm or cytosol.While the factors determining bacterial immunity against predatory bacteria are unknown, recently I have detected, for the first time, novel evolutionary hotspots in the bacterial prey genome in response to predatory pressure. This reveals unexplored opportunities to elucidate mechanistically bacterial immunity against predatory bacteria. The goal of BAC-MUNITY is to define the systems generating bacterial immunity against predatory bacteria. Appling methods from genetic engineering, protein interaction and various microscopy techniques (time-lapse widefield, super-resolution), we will (i) identify the mechanisms of bacterial prey immune systems against predatory bacteria, and (ii) determine specificity in relation to different predatory bacteria and elucidate how universal they are amongst different bacterial prey. Further, we will (iii) investigate regulation using predators engineered to overcome prey immunity and prey with genetically inactivated self-protection.Unravelling new bacterial immune systems against predatory bacteria will open new research avenues with great potential in biotechnology, while providing valuable knowledge on the predator-prey arms race. It will contribute to the development of novel, sustainable treatments against AMR by exploiting the potential of predatory bacteria.
Beneficiaries (1)
| Organisation | Country | Role | EC contribution | SME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNIVERSITAET BERN | CH | coordinator | €2,499,744 |
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