Mastodawn

Nonia Pariente Apr 25, 2024

First up, Ellinor Alseth, Edze Westra and colleagues describe the impact of phage & phage resistance on microbial community dynamics
https://plos.io/49OSE9i

Then Jennifer Bomberger and colleagues show that #lytic phages induce #cytokine release from human respiratory epithelium in a cool cross-kingdom interaction
https://plos.io/44dOUgu
♥️♥️

#LoveVirology

The impact of phage and phage resistance on microbial community dynamics

Phages shape the microbial world. This study uses an evolution experiment to explore how phage impact the structure and dynamics of a four-species bacterial community, finding that phage enables competitive release of the strongest competitor, helps maintain community diversity and prevents reinvasion of the target species.

CellBioNews Mar 13, 2024

Researchers find some #protists use beneficial #viruses to fend off #lytic viruses.

#virophages #Cafeteria #antiviral

https://phys.org/news/2024-03-protists-beneficial-viruses-fend-lytic.html

Researchers find some protists use beneficial viruses to fend off lytic viruses

Contrary to common belief, not all viruses are harmful to their hosts. Sometimes viruses can even protect their hosts from infection by other viruses. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and their collaborators have now demonstrated that this is the case for so-called endogenous virophages: small DNA viruses that are mostly found inserted into the genomes of single-cell eukaryotes—organisms whose cells have a membrane-bound nucleus. In addition, the scientists show that virophages are highly specific towards giant viruses, focusing on the CroV type in the present study.

Phys.org

CellBioNews Jan 10, 2024

The value of information gathering in #phage–#bacteria warfare.

#lytic #lysogenic

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-phagebacteria-warfare.html

The value of information gathering in phage–bacteria warfare

Phages, the viruses that infect bacteria, will pay a high growth-rate cost to access environmental information that can help them choose which lifecycle to pursue, according to a study.

Phys.org