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We thank F.L. Nobrega, J. Iranzo, L. Menendez-Arias and M. Redrejo-Rodriguez for their helpful comments and critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades; ERDF (European Regional Development Funds) research grant (BIO2017-82244P). A.G.-D. was supported by a FPU predoctoral fellowship grant from the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (FPU15/02714). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

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December 20, 2021
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Prokaryotic reverse transcriptases: from retroelements to specialized defense systems

Publicated to:FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS. 45 (6): fuab025- - 2021-11-01 45(6), DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuab025

Authors: Gonzalez-Delgado, Alejandro; Rodriguez Mestre, Mario; Martinez-Abarca, Francisco; Toro, Nicolas;

Affiliations

CSIC UAM, Inst Invest Biomed Alberto Sols, Madrid, Spain - Author
Grp Ecol Genet Rizosfera, Dept Soil Microbiol & Symbiot Syst, Estn Expt Zaidin, Consejo Super Invest Cient Struct Dynam & Funct R, Prof Albareda 1, Granada 18008, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Biochem, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Reverse transcriptases (RTs) catalyze the polymerization of DNA from an RNA template. These enzymes were first discovered in RNA tumor viruses in 1970, but it was not until 1989 that they were found in prokaryotes as a key component of retrons. Apart from RTs encoded by the 'selfish' mobile retroelements known as group II introns, prokaryotic RTs are extraordinarily diverse, but their function has remained elusive. However, recent studies have revealed that different lineages of prokaryotic RTs, including retrons, those associated with CRISPR-Cas systems, Abi-like RTs and other yet uncharacterized RTs, are key components of different lines of defense against phages and other mobile genetic elements. Prokaryotic RTs participate in various antiviral strategies, including abortive infection (Abi), in which the infected cell is induced to commit suicide to protect the host population, adaptive immunity, in which a memory of previous infection is used to build an efficient defense, and other as yet unidentified mechanisms. These prokaryotic enzymes are attracting considerable attention, both for use in cutting-edge technologies, such as genome editing, and as an emerging research topic. In this review, we discuss what is known about prokaryotic RTs, and the exciting evidence for their domestication from retroelements to create specialized defense systems.

Keywords

abi systemscrispr-cas systemsdgrsgroup ii intronsretronsAbi systemsBacterial retronsBacteriophageCrispr-cas systemsDependent dna-polymeraseDgrsDiversity-generating retroelementsEscherichia-coliGroup ii intronsGroup-ii intronLectin foldPhage resistanceRetronsReverse transcriptasesSinorhizobium-meliloti

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 12/137, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Microbiology. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.54. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.33 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.62 (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-05, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 15
  • Scopus: 15

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-05:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 62.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 62 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 16.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 30 (Altmetric).