Yue Liu (Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands) and colleagues published a new preprint investigating a phenomenon where massive numbers of lipid-engulfed tailless phage particles are released from Lactococcus lactis without causing cell lysis.
Most lysogeny-associated adaptations are through new gene acquisition, but prophages can also insert into functional genes and impart a benefit by disrupting their expression (‘active lysogeny’). Christopher Marshall (Marquette University, Wisconsin) and colleagues published a new Science Advances paper showing that active lysogeny can fuel rapid, parallel adaptations in establishing a chronic infection.
CRISPR-Cas12j is a recently identified family of miniature RNA-guided endonucleases from phages. Arturo Carabias (University of Copenhagen) and colleagues published a new Nature Communications paper on the structure of CRISPR-Cas12j3. This is the first structural insight into this new nuclease family, and shows why Cas12j unleashes unspecific ssDNA degradation after activation.
It’s recently been discovered that during replication, some jumbo phages (genomes > 200 kb) establish complex subcellular organization within their host. Vorrapon Chaikeeratisak (University of California San Diego) and colleagues published a new minireview in Frontiers in Microbiology on what’s currently understood about jumbo phages that form a nucleus-like structure, or ‘phage nucleus’ during replication.
Joshua Kirsch (University of Colorado School of Medicine) and colleagues published a new review in Annual Review of Virology on phage-bacteria interactions in the gut, from invertebrates to mammals. They discuss diverse interactions, including genetic coexistence through lysogeny and direct modulation of microbiota and the immune system, and how their consequences may drive health and disease.
