Prophages: an integral but understudied component of the human microbiome
Laura K. Inglis,
Michael J. Roach,
Robert A. Edwards
Abstract:Phages integrated into a bacterial genome – called prophages – continuously monitor the vigour of the host bacteria to determine when to escape the genome and to protect their host from other phage infections, and they may provide genes that promote bacterial growth. Prophages are essential to almost all microbiomes, including the human microbiome. However, most human microbiome studies have focused on bacteria, ignoring free and integrated phages, so we know little about how these prophages affect the human m… Show more
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