Tribal warfare: Commensal Neisseria kill pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae using its DNA

October 19, 2019

This article comments on work published by Kim et al (Cell Host Microbe, 2019), which adds a new dimension to the concept of commensal protection. It shows that commensal Neisseria kill the closely related pathogen N. gonorrhoeae through an unexpected mechanism, one that involves genetic competence, DNA methylation state and recombination.