A virion protein of an archaeal virus inhibits a Type V BREX defense system in Haloarcula hispanica

Abstract

Bacteriophage Exclusion (BREX) systems are a diverse family of bacterial and archaeal defense mechanisms defined by two conserved genes encoding a putative alkaline phosphatase BrxZ (PglZ) and an ATPase BrxC (PglY). Here, we characterize a Type V BREX system from the archaeon Haloarcula hispanica. Similar to bacterial Type I BREX systems, host-virus discrimination relies on methylation of specific non-palindromic DNA motifs. Notably, the H. hispanica BREX locus encodes two methyltransferases, BrxX1 and BrxX2, which independently target distinct motifs (GTAYCCG and GACCCC). The system protects H. hispanica against three of seven tested archaeal viruses. However, two related viruses, SH1 and HHIV-2, despite encoding multiple BREX target sites, escape BREX-mediated defense. We demonstrate that a large virion protein, VP1, encoded by these viruses inhibits the BREX system, as mutant viruses carrying partial deletions of VP1 lose resistance to the host defense. Together, these findings provide the first characterization of a Type V BREX system and demonstrate that archaeal viruses can counteract BREX through virion-associated anti-defense proteins.