Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Adv Virus Res. 2019;103:1-31. doi: 10.1016/bs.aivir.2018.08.001. Epub 2018 Oct 3.
The viruses that infect bacteria, known as phages, are the most abundant biological entity on earth. They play critical roles in controlling bacterial populations through phage-mediated killing, as well as through formation of bacterial lysogens. In this form, the survival of the phage depends on the survival of the bacterial host in which it resides. Thus, it is advantageous for phages to encode genes that contribute to bacterial fitness and expand the environmental niche. In many cases, these fitness factors also make the bacteria better able to survive in human infections and are thereby considered pathogenesis or virulence factors. The genes that encode these fitness factors, known as "morons," have been shown to increase bacterial fitness through a wide range of mechanisms and play important roles in bacterial diseases. This review outlines the benefits provided by phage morons in various aspects of bacterial life, including phage and antibiotic resistance, motility, adhesion and quorum sensing.
感染细菌的病毒，称为噬菌体，是地球上最丰富的生物实体。它们通过噬菌体介导的杀伤以及形成细菌溶原菌，在控制细菌种群方面发挥着关键作用。在这种形式下，噬菌体的生存取决于它所寄居的细菌宿主的生存。因此，噬菌体编码有助于细菌适应性和扩大环境生态位的基因是有利的。在许多情况下，这些适应因子也使细菌更能在人类感染中存活，因此被认为是发病机制或毒力因子。编码这些适应因子的基因，称为“蠢货”，已被证明通过多种机制提高了细菌的适应性，并在细菌疾病中发挥了重要作用。本文综述了噬菌体蠢货在细菌生活的各个方面提供的好处，包括噬菌体和抗生素耐药性、运动性、黏附性和群体感应。
