Abstract
Almost all bacteria synthesize two types of toxins—one for its survival by regulating different cellular processes and another as a strategy to interact with host cells for pathogenesis. Usually, “bacterial toxins” are contemplated as virulence factors that harm the host organism. However, toxins produced by bacteria, as a survival strategy against the host, also hamper its cellular processes. To overcome this, the bacteria have evolved with the production of a molecule, referred to as antitoxin, to negate the deleterious effect of the toxin against itself. The toxin and antitoxins are encoded by a two-component toxin-antitoxin (TA) system. The antitoxin, a protein or RNA, sequesters the toxins of the TA system for neutralization within the bacterial cell. In this review, we have described different TA systems of bacteria and their potential medical and biotechnological applications. It is of interest to note that while bacterial toxin-antitoxin systems have been well studied, the TA system in unicellular eukaryotes, though predicted by the investigators, have never been paid the desired attention. In the present review, we have also touched upon the TA system of eukaryotes identified to date.
Key points
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Bacterial toxins harm the host and also affect the bacterial cellular processes.
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The antitoxin produced by bacteria protect it from the toxin’s harmful effects.
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The toxin-antitoxin systems can be targeted for various medical applications.
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Acknowledgements
LCG acknowledges the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, for the Senior Scientist Fellowship. SS thanks the Jawaharlal Nehru University for intramural financial support. SP is grateful for the funding support from Shiv Nadar foundation, Uttar Pradesh. Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh, is acknowledged for the Shiv Nadar Foundation fellowship to AS.
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No extramural funding was received for this work. The work was carried out using intramural funding from the National Institute of Immunology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Shiv Nadar Foundation, Uttar Pradesh.
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LCG and SS conceived the outline of the review. All authors contributed to literature searches. AS and SP prepared the original draft of the manuscript. AS and HK prepared the figures and tables. LCG and SS reviewed, edited, and prepared the final version of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Srivastava, A., Pati, S., Kaushik, H. et al. Toxin-antitoxin systems and their medical applications: current status and future perspective. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 105, 1803–1821 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11134-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11134-z