Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Arthur Willis Environment Centre, Sheffield, UK.
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Sheffield, UK.
Bioessays. 2017 Dec;39(12). doi: 10.1002/bies.201700112. Epub 2017 Oct 6.
Infection by a temperate phage can lead to death of the bacterial cell, but sometimes these phages integrate into the bacterial chromosome, offering the potential for a more long-lasting relationship to be established. Here we define three major ecological and evolutionary benefits of temperate phage for bacteria: as agents of horizontal gene transfer (HGT), as sources of genetic variation for evolutionary innovation, and as weapons of bacterial competition. We suggest that a coevolutionary perspective is required to understand the roles of temperate phages in bacterial populations.
温和噬菌体的感染可能导致细菌细胞死亡，但有时这些噬菌体整合到细菌染色体中，为建立更持久的关系提供了可能。在这里，我们定义了温和噬菌体对细菌的三个主要生态和进化益处：作为水平基因转移（HGT）的媒介，作为进化创新遗传变异的来源，以及作为细菌竞争的武器。我们认为，需要从共同进化的角度来理解温和噬菌体在细菌种群中的作用。
