Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.1
4.7
Journals
Viruses
Special Issues
Bacteriophage Diversity
share announcement

Bacteriophage Diversity

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 1288

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Bert Ely

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Interests: bacterial genetics; bacteriophage genomes; bacterial genome evolution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Numerous metagenomic analyses have provided new evidence that bacteriophages are abundant, ubiquitous and extremely diverse. In addition, the dramatically lower cost of nucleotide sequencing has enabled researchers to identify evolutionary relationships among collections of closely related bacteriophages isolated from specific environments. As a result, there has been a resurgence in the number of laboratories studying recently isolated bacteriophages.

As additional phages are isolated and the nucleotide sequence of their genomes is determined, new genera are being identified, and within-genera comparisons can identify evolutionary trends that lead to the diversification of bacteriophage genomes.

To highlight this renewed interest in bacteriophage diversity, the journal Viruses will devote a Special Issue to the topic of bacteriophage diversity that is intended to showcase research papers that investigate the diversity present in collections of bacteriophages that have been isolated from natural environments.

Prof. Dr. Bert Ely
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bacteriophages
  • phage diversity
  • genome evolution
  • new genera
  • phage–host interactions

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 3752 KiB  
Article
New Genera and Species of Caulobacter and Brevundimonas Bacteriophages Provide Insights into Phage Genome Evolution
by Bert Ely, Michael Hils, Aaron Clarke, Maegan Albert, Nadia Holness, Jacob Lenski and Tannaz Mohammadi
Viruses 2024, 16(4), 641; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040641 - 20 Apr 2024
Viewed by 413
Abstract
Previous studies have identified diverse bacteriophages that infect Caulobacter vibrioides strain CB15 ranging from small RNA phages to four genera of jumbo phages. In this study, we focus on 20 bacteriophages whose genomes range from 40 to 60 kb in length. Genome comparisons [...] Read more.
Previous studies have identified diverse bacteriophages that infect Caulobacter vibrioides strain CB15 ranging from small RNA phages to four genera of jumbo phages. In this study, we focus on 20 bacteriophages whose genomes range from 40 to 60 kb in length. Genome comparisons indicated that these diverse phages represent six Caulobacter phage genera and one additional genus that includes both Caulobacter and Brevundimonas phages. Within species, comparisons revealed that both single base changes and inserted or deleted genetic material cause the genomes of closely related phages to diverge. Among genera, the basic gene order and the orientation of key genes were retained with most of the observed variation occurring at ends of the genomes. We hypothesize that the nucleotide sequences of the ends of these phage genomes are less important than the need to maintain the size of the genome and the stability of the corresponding mRNAs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacteriophage Diversity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 23754 KiB  
Article
Genome Analysis of Epsilon CrAss-like Phages
by Igor V. Babkin, Artem Y. Tikunov, Ivan K. Baykov, Vera V. Morozova and Nina V. Tikunova
Viruses 2024, 16(4), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16040513 - 27 Mar 2024
Viewed by 603
Abstract
CrAss-like phages play an important role in maintaining ecological balance in the human intestinal microbiome. However, their genetic diversity and lifestyle are still insufficiently studied. In this study, a novel CrAssE-Sib phage genome belonging to the epsilon crAss-like phage genomes was found. Comparative [...] Read more.
CrAss-like phages play an important role in maintaining ecological balance in the human intestinal microbiome. However, their genetic diversity and lifestyle are still insufficiently studied. In this study, a novel CrAssE-Sib phage genome belonging to the epsilon crAss-like phage genomes was found. Comparative analysis indicated that epsilon crAss-like phages are divided into two putative genera, which were proposed to be named Epsilonunovirus and Epsilonduovirus; CrAssE-Sib belongs to the former. The crAssE-Sib genome contains a diversity-generating retroelement (DGR) cassette with all essential elements, including the reverse transcriptase (RT) and receptor binding protein (RBP) genes. However, this RT contains the GxxxSP motif in its fourth domain instead of the usual GxxxSQ motif found in all known phage and bacterial DGRs. RBP encoded by CrAssE-Sib and other Epsilonunoviruses has an unusual structure, and no similar phage proteins were found. In addition, crAssE-Sib and other Epsilonunoviruses encode conserved prophage repressor and anti-repressors that could be involved in lysogenic-to-lytic cycle switches. Notably, DNA primase sequences of epsilon crAss-like phages are not included in the monophyletic group formed by the DNA primases of all other crAss-like phages. Therefore, epsilon crAss-like phage substantially differ from other crAss-like phages, indicating the need to classify these phages into a separate family. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bacteriophage Diversity)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop