Prophages mediate defense against phage infection through diverse mechanisms

The activity of bacteriophages poses a major threat to bacterial survival. Upon infection, a temperate phage can either kill the host cell or be maintained as a prophage. In this state, the bacteria carrying the prophage is at risk of superinfection, where another phage injects its genetic material and competes for host cell resources. To avoid this, many phages have evolved mechanisms that alter the bacteria and make it resistant to phage superinfection. The mechanisms underlying these phentoypic conversions and the fitness consequences for the host are poorly understood, and systematic studies of superinfection exclusion mechanisms are lacking. In this study, we examined a wide range of Pseudomonas…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• RS
  Royal Society
• SR
  Sight Research UK

  Awards: NE/M018350/1, NBAF010002
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: NIH U54
• CI
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research

  Awards: XNE-86943, MOP-136845
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• NE
  Natural Environment Research Council

  Awards: NE/M018350/1, NBAF010002