Co-transfer of functionally interdependent genes contributes to genome mosaicism in lambdoid phages.

ABSTRACT: Lambdoid (or Lambda-like) phages are a group of related temperate phages that can infect Escherichia coli and other gut bacteria. A key characteristic of these phages is their mosaic genome structure, which served as the basis for the 'modular genome hypothesis'. Accordingly, lambdoid phages evolve by transferring genomic regions, each of which constitutes a functional unit. Nevertheless, it is unknown which genes are preferentially transferred together and what drives such co-transfer events. Here we aim to characterize genome modularity by studying co-transfer of genes among 95 distantly related lambdoid (pro-)phages. Based on gene content, we observed that the genomes cluster into 12 groups, which are characterized by a highly similar gene content within the groups and highly div

SUBMITTER: Kupczok A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9836094 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature