Horizontal Gene Transfer and CRISPR Targeting Drive Phage-Bacterial Host Interactions and Coevolution in "Pink Berry" Marine Microbial Aggregates.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophages (phages), which are viruses that infect bacteria, are the most abundant components of microbial communities and play roles in community dynamics and host evolution. However, the study of phage-host interactions is hindered by a paucity of model systems from natural environments. Here, we investigate phage-host interactions in the "pink berry" consortia, which are naturally occurring, low-diversity, macroscopic bacterial aggregates that are found in the Sippewissett Salt Marsh (Falmouth, MA, USA). We leverage metagenomic sequence data and a comparative genomics approach to identify eight compete phage genomes, infer their bacterial hosts from host-encoded clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs), and observe the potential evolutionary consequences o

SUBMITTER: Kosmopoulos JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10370329 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature