Mucosal surfaces are a main entry point for pathogens and the principal sites of defense against infection. Both bacteria and phage are associated with this mucus. Here we show that phageto-bacteria ratios were increased, relative to the adjacent environment, on all mucosal surfaces sampled, ranging from cnidarians to humans. In vitro studies of tissue culture cells with and without surface mucus demonstrated that this increase in phage abundance is mucus dependent and protects the underlying epithelium from bacterial infection. Enrichment of phage in mucus occurs via binding interactions between mucin glycoproteins and Ig-like protein domains exposed on phage capsids. In particular, phage Ig-like domains bind variable glycan residues that coat the mucin glycoprotein component of mucus. Metagenomic analysis found these Ig-like proteins present in the phages sampled from many environments, particularly from locations adjacent to mucosal surfaces. Based on these observations, we present the bacteriophage adherence to mucus model that provides a ubiquitous, but non-host-derived, immunity applicable to mucosal surfaces. The model suggests that metazoan mucosal surfaces and phage coevolve to maintain phage adherence. This benefits the metazoan host by limiting mucosal bacteria, and benefits the phage through more frequent interactions with bacterial hosts. The relationships shown here suggest a symbiotic relationship between phage and metazoan hosts that provides a previously unrecognized antimicrobial defense that actively protects mucosal surfaces.symbiosis | host-pathogen | virus | immunoglobulin | immune system

Boundless Bio, Inc. (BB), and serve as consultants. V.B. is a co-founder, and has equity interest in Boundless Bio, inc. (BB) and Digital Proteomics, LLC (DP), and receives income from DP. The terms of this arrangement have been reviewed and approved by the University of California, San Diego in accordance with its conflict of interest policies. BB and DP were not involved in the research presented here. Data Availability. Whole genome-, RNA-, ATAC-, MNase-, ChIP-, PLAC-Seq data are deposited in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive (BioProject: PRJNA506071). The source data files of the pixel quantification of ATAC-see on metaphase chromosome spread images to create Extended Data Figure 7d are available on Figshare (

We observed the assembly of a nucleus-like structure in bacteria during viral infection. Using fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron tomography, we showed that Pseudomonas chlororaphis phage 201ϕ2-1 assembled a compartment that separated viral DNA from the cytoplasm. The phage compartment was centered by a bipolar tubulin-based spindle, and it segregated phage and bacterial proteins according to function. Proteins involved in DNA replication and transcription localized inside the compartment, whereas proteins involved in translation and nucleotide synthesis localized outside. Later during infection, viral capsids assembled on the cytoplasmic membrane and moved to the surface of the compartment for DNA packaging. Ultimately, viral particles were released from the compartment and the cell lysed. These results demonstrate that phages have evolved a specialized structure to compartmentalize viral replication.

Tubulins are essential for the reproduction of many eukaryotic viruses, but historically bacteriophage were assumed not to require a cytoskeleton. Here we identify a tubulin-like protein, PhuZ, from bacteriophage 201φ2-1 and show that it forms filaments in vivo and in vitro. The PhuZ structure has a conserved tubulin fold, with a novel, extended C-terminus that we demonstrate to be critical for polymerization in vitro and in vivo. Longitudinal packing in the crystal lattice mimics packing observed by EM of in vitro formed filaments, indicating how interactions between the C-terminus and the following monomer drive polymerization. Finally, we show that PhuZ assembles a spindle-like array required for positioning phage DNA within the bacterial cell. Correct positioning to the cell center and optimal phage reproduction only occur when the PhuZ filament is dynamic. This is the first example of a prokaryotic tubulin array that functions analogously to the microtubule-based spindles of eukaryotes.

Summary We recently demonstrated that the large Pseudomonas chlororaphis bacteriophage 201φ2-1 assembles a nucleus-like structure that encloses phage DNA and segregates proteins according to function, with DNA processing proteins inside and metabolic enzymes and ribosomes outside the nucleus. Here we investigate the replication pathway of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophages φKZ and φPA3. Bacteriophages φKZ and φPA3 encode a proteinaceous shell that assembles a nucleus-like structure that compartmentalizes proteins and DNA during viral infection. We show that the tubulin-like protein PhuZ encoded by each phage assembles a bipolar spindle that displays dynamic instability and positions the nucleus at midcell. Our results suggest that the phage spindle and nucleus play the same functional role in all three phages, 201φ2-1, φKZ and φPA3, demonstrating that these key structures are conserved among large Pseudomonas phages.