Frenemy: adaptive temperate phage_SAP_1432 supports <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> survival in changing temperatures.

ABSTRACT: It is important to understand how the presence of pathogens could benefit the survival of their hosts during climate change. In this study, we investigated the influence of the heat-resistant temperate phage phage_SAP_1432 on its bacterial host Staphylococcus aureus Q1432 at different temperatures. Thermal host performance curves at a multiplicity of infection of 0.001 showed that the phage killed the bacterium efficiently from 20 to 39°C and from 47 to 50°C. However, the phage resulted in a 41.2% increase in the maximal growth rate for the host bacterium from 1.53 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42-1.63) in the absence of phage_SAP_1432 to 2.16 (95% CI: 2.02-2.37) in its presence, along with a shift in the optimum temperature from 41.0°C to 44.1°C. In the absence of phage, the max

SUBMITTER: Liu T-t 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12323586 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature