Single-phage profiling illuminates viral individuality during bacterial cell fate determination

Parallel sequential fluorescence in situ hybridization (par-seqFISH) profiled the transcriptional activity of individual phage lambda genomes during synchronized infection of E. coli. Cells pursuing lysogeny show consensus activity among all their phages, whereas lytic cells may contain phages with lysogenic activity, supporting the idea that consensus among coinfecting phages is required for dormancy.