Prophage: a crucial catalyst in infectious disease modulation

Abstract

Lysogenic conversion, in which a temperate bacteriophage sequence integrates into the bacterial genome and forms a prophage, is one of the most efficient mechanisms that bacteria use to acquire accessory traits. The contribution of prophage genetic material to the bacterial DNA might constitute up to 20% of the bacterial genome, with variation between species and strains. Furthermore, it has been suggested that approximately 25% of all the bacteriophage genomes on Earth exists in the form of a prophage.