When a Virus is Not a Parasite: the Beneficial Effects of Prophages on Bacterial Fitness

Overview

Journal J Microbiol

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2014 Mar 4

PMID 24585054

Citations 93

Authors

Joseph Bondy-Denomy

Alan R Davidson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Most organisms on the planet have viruses that infect them. Viral infection may lead to cell death, or to a symbiotic relationship where the genomes of both virus and host replicate together. In the symbiotic state, both virus and cell potentially experience increased fitness as a result of the other. The viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages (or phages), well exemplify the symbiotic relationships that can develop between viruses and their host. In this review, we will discuss the many ways that prophages, which are phage genomes integrated into the genomes of their hosts, influence bacterial behavior and virulence.

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