Bacteria employ a diverse set of nucleotide-based second messengers to regulate growth, stress adaptation, motility, biofilm formation, and antiviral defense pathways.[1-20] This set consists of various types of linear and cyclic (di)nucleotides & (di)nucleoside polyphosphates (Tab. 1).
Check out our complete portfolio of cyclic nucleotides and nucleoside & dinucleoside polyphosphates as well.
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[2] Jimmy et al. (2020) A widespread toxin-antitoxin system exploiting growth control via alarmone signaling. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117: 10500.
[3] Anderson et al. (2021) Regulatory Themes and Variations by the Stress-Signaling Nucleotide Alarmones (p)ppGpp in Bacteria. Annu Rev Genet. 55: 115.
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[7] Dalebroux et al. (2012) ppGpp: magic beyond RNA polymerase. Nature Reviews Microbiology 10 (3):203.
[8] Giammarinaro et al. (2022) Diadenosine tetraphosphate regulates biosynthesis of GTP in Bacillus subtilis. Nat Microbiol 7:1442
[9] Young et al. (2024) From dusty shelves toward the spotlight: growing evidence for Ap4A as an alarmone in maintaining RNA stability and proteostasis. Current Opinion in Microbiology 81:102536.
[10] Zegarra et al. (2023) The mysterious diadenosine tetraphosphate (AP4A). microLife 4: doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad016.
[11] Marotta et al. (2023) Insights into the metabolism, signaling, and physiological effects of 2’,3’-cyclic nucleotide monophosphates in bacteria. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 58(2-6):118.
[12] Chauhan et al. (2022) Binding of 2′,3′-Cyclic Nucleotide Monophosphates to Bacterial Ribosomes Inhibits Translation. ACS Cent. Sci. 8(11):1518.
[13] Duggal et al. (2022) Cellular Effects of 2′,3′-Cyclic Nucleotide Monophosphates in Gram-Negative Bacteria. ACS Cent. Sci. 204(1):e00208-21.
[14] Zeng et al. (2025) Base-modified nucleotides mediate immune signaling in bacteria. Science : DOI:10.1126/science.ads6055.
[15] Barańska et al. (2025) Prokaryotic homeostasis – a solution to thrive and survive. Front. Mol. Biosci.12: doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2025.1704789.
[16] Wenzl et al. (2024) How enzyme-centered approaches are advancing research on cyclic oligo-nucleotides. FEBS Lett.598(8): 839.
[17] Yoon et al. (2021) The ever-expanding world of bacterial cyclic oligonucleotide second messengers. Curr Opin Microbiol.60: 96.
[18] Whiteley et al. (2019) Bacterial cGAS-like enzymes synthesize diverse nucleotide signals. Nature567(7747): 194.
[19] Tak et al. (2023) Bacterial cGAS-like enzymes produce 2‘,3‘-cGAMP to activate an ion channel that restricts phage replication. bioRxiv: doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.24.550367.
[20] Hengge (2023) The symbolic power of nucleotide second messengers – or how prokaryotes link sensing and responding to their outside world. microLife 4: doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad036.
