Genomics of bacterial and archaeal viruses: dynamics within the prokaryotic virosphere.

ABSTRACT: Prokaryotes, bacteria and archaea, are the most abundant cellular organisms among those sharing the planet Earth with human beings (among others). However, numerous ecological studies have revealed that it is actually prokaryotic viruses that predominate on our planet and outnumber their hosts by at least an order of magnitude. An understanding of how this viral domain is organized and what are the mechanisms governing its evolution is therefore of great interest and importance. The vast majority of characterized prokaryotic viruses belong to the order Caudovirales, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) bacteriophages with tails. Consequently, these viruses have been studied (and reviewed) extensively from both genomic and functional perspectives. However, albeit numerous, tailed phages represent on

SUBMITTER: Krupovic M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3232739 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature