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Exploring Phage–Host Interactions: Novel Findings and Perspectives
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Exploring Phage–Host Interactions: Novel Findings and Perspectives

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 815

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Luís Melo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
2. LABBELS—Associate Laboratory, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Interests: bacteriophage; genomics; transcriptomics; biofilms
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to launch a Special Issue entitled “Exploring Phage–Host Interactions: Novel Findings and Perspectives”.

This Special Issue provides a platform for publishing original research papers and reviews exploring the interactions between phages and their bacterial hosts on multiple levels.

We eagerly invite studies employing diverse omics methodologies to unravel the details of phage–host interactions, spanning from the microscopic realm of single cells to the grand scale of ecological communities. Embracing both more classical and cutting-edge technologies, we aspire to uncover new frontiers in understanding these interactions at both physical and molecular levels. By including both basic and applied research, we aim to bridge the gap between theory and real-world applications, ensuring practical impact across biotechnology, medicine, and environmental management.

We aim to assemble top phage researchers to contribute to this Special Issue and sincerely hope that the provided information will attract your interest and encourage you to provide your contributions to this call.

Dr. Luís Melo
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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 therapy
  • phage/bacteria interactions
  • genomics
  • transcriptomics
  • proteomics
  • metabolomics
  • biofilms

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1839 KiB  
Article
A Plasmid-Encoded Surface Polysaccharide Partly Blocks Ceduovirus Infection in Lactococci
by Claudia Rendueles, Javier Nicolás Garay-Novillo, Martin Holm Rau, Paula Gaspar, José Ángel Ruiz-Masó, Jennifer Mahony, Ana Rodríguez, José Luis Barra, Gloria del Solar and Beatriz Martínez
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(6), 2508; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26062508 - 11 Mar 2025
Viewed by 523
Abstract
Bacteriophages (or phages) remain the leading cause of failure in dairy fermentations. Thereby, phage-resistant Lactococcus lactis and Lactococcus cremoris dairy starters are in continuous demand. In this work, our goal was to identify phage defense mechanisms against ceduoviruses encoded by two wild isolates [...] Read more.
Bacteriophages (or phages) remain the leading cause of failure in dairy fermentations. Thereby, phage-resistant Lactococcus lactis and Lactococcus cremoris dairy starters are in continuous demand. In this work, our goal was to identify phage defense mechanisms against ceduoviruses encoded by two wild isolates of dairy origin named L. lactis IPLA517 and IPLA1064. These strains were previously subjected to experimental evolution to select derivatives that are resistant to the bacteriocin Lcn972. It was observed that the Lcn972R derivatives became sensitive to phage infection; however, the underlying mechanism was not defined. The long-read sequencing technologies applied in this work reveal that all of the Lcn972R derivatives shared the loss of a 41 kb endogenous plasmid (p41) that harbors a putative exopolysaccharide (EPS) gene cluster with significant homology to one described in Lactococcus garvieae. Using a CRISPR-Cas9-based approach, p41 was selectively cured from L. lactis IPLA1064. Phage infection assays with three ceduoviruses demonstrated that curing p41 restored phage sensitivity at levels comparable to the Lcn972R-IPLA1064 derivatives. Phage adsorption to Δp41 cells was also increased, consistent with the hypothesis of EPS production hindering access to the phage receptor protein Pip. Our results reinforce the role of EPSs in protecting Lactococcus against phage infection, a phenomenon that is rarely reported for ceduoviruses. Moreover, the results also exemplify the likely horizontal gene transfer that can occur between L. lactis and L. garvieae in a dairy environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Phage–Host Interactions: Novel Findings and Perspectives)
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