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Review
. 2014 Mar;52(3):235-42.
doi: 10.1007/s12275-014-4083-3. Epub 2014 Mar 1.

When a virus is not a parasite: the beneficial effects of prophages on bacterial fitness

Joseph Bondy-Denomy  1 , Alan R Davidson
Affiliations
Review

When a virus is not a parasite: the beneficial effects of prophages on bacterial fitness

Joseph Bondy-Denomy et al. J Microbiol. 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Most organisms on the planet have viruses that infect them. Viral infection may lead to cell death, or to a symbiotic relationship where the genomes of both virus and host replicate together. In the symbiotic state, both virus and cell potentially experience increased fitness as a result of the other. The viruses that infect bacteria, called bacteriophages (or phages), well exemplify the symbiotic relationships that can develop between viruses and their host. In this review, we will discuss the many ways that prophages, which are phage genomes integrated into the genomes of their hosts, influence bacterial behavior and virulence.

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