{rfName}
UG

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Citations

42

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Grant support

MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER `Una manera de hacer Europa' [BIO2017-82244-P to N.T]; MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 [PID2020113207GB-I00 to N.T and F.M.A.]; M.R.M. is supported by the FPI-UAM program from Universidad Aut ' onoma de Madrid; L.G. is supported by the Society of Fellows of Harvard University; S.A.S. is a recipient of a Novo Nordisk Foundation project grant in basic bioscience [NNF18OC0052965]; A.L.B. is a recipient of FPI fellowship [PRE2020-092935] from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; J.I. is supported by the `Ram ' on y Cajal' program from the Spanish Ministry of Science [RYC2017-22524]; Agencia Estatal de Investigaci ' on of Spain [PID2019-106618GA-I00]; `Severo Ochoa Program for Centres of Excellence in R&D' from the Agencia Estatal de Investigaci ' on of Spain [SEV-2016-0672 (2017-2021) to the C.B.G.P.]; M.R.R. is funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [PGC2018-093723-A-100, AEI/FEDER]; Fundaci ' on Ram ' on Areces (VirHostOmics); F.Z. is supported by NIH [1DP1-HL141201 and 2R01HG009761-05]; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Open Philanthropy, the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation; Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research at MIT; Hock E. Tan and K. Lisa Yang Center for Autism Research at MIT; Yang-Tan Molecular Therapeutics Center at McGovern; Phillips family and J. and P. Poitras. Funding for open access charge: [PID2020-113207GB-I00] from the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.

Analysis of institutional authors

Mestre, MrAuthorRedrejo-Rodriguez, MAuthor
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Article

UG/Abi: a highly diverse family of prokaryotic reverse transcriptases associated with defense functions

Publicated to:NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH. 50 (11): gkac467-gkac467 - 2022-06-24 50(11), DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac467

Authors: Rodriguez Mestre, Mario; Alex Gao, Linyi; Shah, Shiraz A; Lopez-Beltran, Adrian; Gonzalez-Delgado, Alejandro; Martinez-Abarca, Francisco; Iranzo, Jaime; Redrejo-Rodriguez, Modesto; Zhang, Feng; Toro, Nicolas

Affiliations

Copenhagen Univ Hosp, Copenhagen Prospect Studies Asthma Childhood, Ledreborg Alle 34, DK-2820 Gentofte, Denmark - Author
CSIC, Estn Expt Zaidin, Dept Soil Microbiol & Symbiot Syst, Struct Dynam & Funct Rhizobacterial Genomes,Grp E, Madrid, Spain - Author
Harvard Univ, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA - Author
Howard Hughes Med Inst, Cambridge, MA USA - Author
Inst Invest Biorned Alberto Sols CSIC UAM, Madrid, Spain - Author
MIT, Broad Inst MIT & Harvard, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA - Author
MIT, Dept Biol Engn, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA - Author
MIT, Dept Brain & Cognit Sci, E25-618, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA - Author
MIT, McGovern Inst Brain Res, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA - Author
Univ Autonoma Madrid UAM, Dept Bioquim, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid UPM, Ctr Biotecnol & Genom Plantas, Inst Nacl Invest & Tecnol Agr & Alimentaria INIA, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Zaragoza, Inst Biocomputat & Phys Complex Syst BIFI, Zaragoza, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Reverse transcriptases (RTs) are enzymes capable of synthesizing DNA using RNA as a template. Within the last few years, a burst of research has led to the discovery of novel prokaryotic RTs with diverse antiviral properties, such as DRTs (Defense-associated RTs), which belong to the so-called group of unknown RTs (UG) and are closely related to the Abortive Infection system (Abi) RTs. In this work, we performed a systematic analysis of UG and Abi RTs, increasing the number of UG/Abi members up to 42 highly diverse groups, most of which are predicted to be functionally associated with other gene(s) or domain(s). Based on this information, we classified these systems into three major classes. In addition, we reveal that most of these groups are associated with defense functions and/or mobile genetic elements, and demonstrate the antiphage role of four novel groups. Besides, we highlight the presence of one of these systems in novel families of human gut viruses infecting members of the Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes phyla. This work lays the foundation for a comprehensive and unified understanding of these highly diverse RTs with enormous biotechnological potential.

Keywords
Abortive infectionBacterial retronsBacteriophageClassificationDependent dna-polymeraseEndonucleaseHumansIdentificationPredictionProkaryotic cellsResourceRnaRna-directed dna polymeraseVirionsViruses

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH 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, 2022, it was in position 10/285, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. 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: 3.56. 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: 3.2 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6.57 (source consulted: Dimensions May 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-05-02, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 17
  • Scopus: 16
  • Europe PMC: 9
  • OpenCitations: 19
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 2025-05-02:

  • 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: 42.
  • 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: 42 (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: 9.05.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 15 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://repositorio.uam.es/handle/10486/714053
Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Denmark; United States of America.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (RODRIGUEZ MESTRE, MARIO) .