Natalia Quinones-Olvera, Siân V Owen, Lucy M McCully, Maximillian G Marin, Eleanor A Rand, Alice C Fan, Oluremi J Martins Dosumu, Kay Paul, Cleotilde E Sanchez Castaño, Rachel Petherbridge, Jillian S Paull, Michael Baym
Phages exert profound evolutionary pressure on bacteria by interacting with receptors on the cell surface to initiate infection. While the majority of phages use chromosomally encoded cell surface structures as receptors, plasmid-dependent phages exploit plasmid-encoded conjugation proteins, making their host range dependent on horizontal transfer of the plasmid. Despite their unique biology and biotechnological significance, only a small number of plasmid-dependent phages have been characterized. Here we systematically search for new plasmid-dependent phages targeting IncP and IncF plasmids using a targeted discovery platform, and find that they are common and abundant in wastewater, and largely unexplored in terms of their genetic diversity...
April 12, 2024: Nature Communications