Molecular mimicry arrests the phage packaging AppA-ratus.

AppA, a small Salmonella Gifsy-1 prophage protein, disrupts late-stage virion assembly by mimicking the terminase assembly interface and arresting phage DNA packaging.

• Why it matters: Phage defenses that target genome packaging and virion assembly are less explored, yet they can strongly shape phage success and bacterial survival during infection.
• What they did: Wang et al. investigated how AppA affects late-stage assembly, using evidence that it mimics the terminase assembly interface to interfere with DNA packaging.
• The result: By arresting phage DNA packaging, AppA supports bacterial fitness during intestinal infection, linking terminase-interface mimicry to impaired virion assembly.

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