Dual sensing activates antiviral reverse transcriptase for membrane targeting.

Dual sensing activates bacterial antiviral reverse transcriptase, leading to membrane targeting and growth arrest, with 2 distinct mechanisms identified.

• Why it matters: Understanding how DRT2 is activated is crucial for revealing bacterial defense strategies and could inform biotechnological innovations in DNA synthesis.
• What they did: Researchers used cryo-EM and biochemical assays to uncover that DRT2 is triggered by phage-encoded SSB binding and elevated dGTP levels, producing Neo protein that targets membranes.
• The result: This work enables engineered DRT2 systems to generate large, user-defined dsDNA templates in vivo, opening new avenues for biotechnological applications.