A minimalist bacterial defense strategy: Scientists discover single protein that disrupts viral assembly

University of Toronto researchers have expanded our understanding of bacterial immunity with the discovery of a new protein that can both sense and counteract viral infections. In the study, published in Nature, researchers from U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine describe how a single protein named Rip1 recognizes bacteriophages, the viruses that infect bacteria, and cause infected bacteria to die prematurely, thereby ending the chain of transmission.