Abstract
Bacteriophages have been used as molecular tools in fundamental biology investigations for decades. Beyond this, however, they play a crucial role in the eco-evolutionary dynamics of bacterial communities through their demographic impact and the source of genetic information they represent. The increasing interest in describing ecological and evolutionary aspects of bacteria–phage interactions has led to major insights into their fundamental characteristics, including arms race dynamics and acquired bacterial immunity. Here, we review knowledge on the phages of the myxobacteria with a major focus on phages infecting Myxococcus xanthus, a bacterial model system widely used to study developmental biology and social evolution. In particular, we focus upon the isolation of myxophages from natural sources and describe the morphology and life cycle parameters, as well as the molecular genetics and genomics of the major groups of myxophages. Finally, we propose several interesting research directions which focus on the interplay between myxobacterial host sociality and bacteria–phage interactions.
Highlights
The massive de novo generation of viral genome and metagenome data from environmental and clinical sources [1,2] as well as the surging interest in molecular and medical applications derived from research on phage therapy [3] and bacterial CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced ShortPalindromic Repeats and CRISPR associated system) immunity in eubacteria and archaea [4] have reinvigorated scientific interest in phage ecology and evolution [5]
We will broadly summarize what is known about the bacteriophages of the myxobacteria, which are important model organisms for understanding the evolution of multicellularity and cooperation
We first aspect throughout our text. highlight the difficulties encountered in isolating and consistently naming myxophages, and we propose a generalthe naming scheme for both existing and novel myxophages
Summary
The massive de novo generation of viral genome and metagenome data from environmental and clinical sources [1,2] as well as the surging interest in molecular and medical applications derived from research on phage therapy [3] and bacterial CRISPR-Cas Myxobacteria are a monophyletic clade within the delta-proteobacteria, and are highly diversified [10,11] and globally distributed in both terrestrial soils [12] and marine sediments [13,14] Their life cycle is governed by the availability of food sources (Figure 1) and they either feed on organic compounds (such as cellulose) or microbial prey cells by extracellular lysis [15]. First highlight difficulties encountered in isolating and consistently naming describe the main groups of myxophages, phage remnants, and prophages with regard to myxophages, and propose a general naming scheme for both existing and novel myxophages. We conclude this review by describe the main groups of myxophages, phage remnants, and prophages with regard to morphology, outlining several interesting research questionsFinally, related we to the interplay host biology, and molecular genetics and genomics. Interesting research questions related to the interplay between myxobacterial host sociality and bacteria–phage interactions
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