Prophage border curation reveals horizontal transfer of lysogeny-related elements between filamentous and double jelly-roll phages.

ABSTRACT: While tailed bacteriophages dominate contemporary models of phage biology, non-tailed phages-particularly filamentous inoviruses and double jelly-roll (DJR) capsid phages-remain poorly understood, despite their environmental ubiquity and ecological importance. Here, we identify 515 inoviruses and 258 DJR prophages from 688 Vibrio spp. genomes and precisely annotate prophage-bacterium junctions. This curated dataset enables us to systematically classify genomic variations and characterize lysogeny-related elements for each prophage subtype. We discover a conserved lysogeny module shared by specific inoviral and DJR subtypes, which represents an evolutionary strategy where phylogenetically distinct phages use horizontal gene transfer to co-opt host mechanisms for integration. Comparative gen

SUBMITTER: Ma R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12715192 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature