Diverse phage communities are maintained stably on a clonal bacterial host

Bacteriophages are the most abundant and phylogenetically diverse biological entities on Earth, yet the ecological mechanisms that sustain this extraordinary diversity remain unclear. In this study, we discovered that phage diversity consistently outstripped the diversity of their bacterial hosts un...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2024-12, Vol.386 (6727), p.1294-1300
Main Authors: Pyenson, Nora C, Leeks, Asher, Nweke, Odera, Goldford, Joshua E, Schluter, Jonas, Turner, Paul E, Foster, Kevin R, Sanchez, Alvaro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological Coevolution
Coliforms
Coliphages - genetics
Coliphages - physiology
E coli
Escherichia coli - genetics
Escherichia coli - virology
Hot springs
Microbial activity
Microorganisms
Phages
Phenotype
Phenotypes
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Summary:Bacteriophages are the most abundant and phylogenetically diverse biological entities on Earth, yet the ecological mechanisms that sustain this extraordinary diversity remain unclear. In this study, we discovered that phage diversity consistently outstripped the diversity of their bacterial hosts under simple experimental conditions. We assembled and passaged dozens of diverse phage communities on a single, nonevolving strain of until the phage communities reached equilibrium. In all cases, we found that two or more phage species coexisted stably, despite competition for a single, clonal host population. Phage coexistence was supported through host phenotypic heterogeneity, whereby bacterial cells adopting different growth phenotypes served as niches for different phage species. Our experiments reveal that a rich community ecology of bacteriophages can emerge on a single bacterial host.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.adk1183