New paper in “The ISME Journal” shows predominance of underappreciated prophages in marine bacteria

11.12.2024

Research on bacterial viruses (phages) has focused on those characterized by a distinctive head-and-tail structure. This includes prophages, viruses that integrate into the genomes of their bacterial hosts. However, recent reports suggest the presence of other types of prophages.

Kerrin Steensen from the Polz lab at DOME, together with scientists from CeMess and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), shows that prophages related to tailless and filamentous phages are more abundant than tailed phages in marine Vibrio bacteria. Because these prophages are underrepresented in databases, they are typically missed by conventional methods to detect bacterial viruses. In their paper published in The ISME Journal, the team also sheds light on the fascinating biology of these understudied prophages. This study enhances our understanding of viral diversity in marine ecosystems and suggests that tailless and filamentous viruses are important drivers of host ecology and evolution in the ocean.

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Schematic representation of tailless, filamentous and tailed prophages in white on black background.

Schematic representation of tailless, filamentous and tailed prophages.

Image credit: Kerrin Steensen