Jumbo Phages: A Comparative Genomic Overview of Core Functions and Adaptions for Biological Conflicts.

ABSTRACT: Jumbo phages have attracted much attention by virtue of their extraordinary genome size and unusual aspects of biology. By performing a comparative genomics analysis of 224 jumbo phages, we suggest an objective inclusion criterion based on genome size distributions and present a synthetic overview of their manifold adaptations across major biological systems. By means of clustering and principal component analysis of the phyletic patterns of conserved genes, all known jumbo phages can be classified into three higher-order groups, which include both myoviral and siphoviral morphologies indicating multiple independent origins from smaller predecessors. Our study uncovers several under-appreciated or unreported aspects of the DNA replication, recombination, transcription and virion maturation

SUBMITTER: M Iyer L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7824862 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature