The virocell concept and environmental microbiology

Forterre, Patrick

doi:10.1038/ismej.2012.110

Cited by 169 publications

(141 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(22 reference statements)

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“…Therefore, each specific set of AMGs will result in a unique metabolic phenotype after infection. From a more philosophical perspective, this altered metabolic state of the phage-infected cell is consistent with the definition of viral life (virocell concept) (Forterre, 2013).…”

Section: Observed Correlations Between the Phage-specific Metabolic Rsupporting

confidence: 73%

High coverage metabolomics analysis reveals phage-specific alterations to Pseudomonas aeruginosa physiology during infection

et al. 2016

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Phage-mediated metabolic changes in bacteria are hypothesized to markedly alter global nutrient and biogeochemical cycles. Despite their theoretic importance, experimental data on the net metabolic impact of phage infection on the bacterial metabolism remains scarce. In this study, we tracked the dynamics of intracellular metabolites using untargeted high coverage metabolomics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells infected with lytic bacteriophages from six distinct phage genera. Analysis of the metabolomics data indicates an active interference in the host metabolism. In general, phages elicit an increase in pyrimidine and nucleotide sugar metabolism. Furthermore, clear phage-specific and infection stage-specific responses are observed, ranging from extreme metabolite depletion (for example, phage YuA) to complete reorganization of the metabolism (for example, phage phiKZ). As expected, pathways targeted by the phage-encoded auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs) were enriched among the metabolites changing during infection. The effect on pyrimidine metabolism of phages encoding AMGs capable of host genome degradation (for example, YuA and LUZ19) was distinct from those lacking nuclease-encoding genes (for example, phiKZ), which demonstrates the link between the encoded set of AMGs of a phage and its impact on host physiology. However, a large fraction of the profound effect on host metabolism could not be attributed to the phage-encoded AMGs. We suggest a potentially crucial role for small, 'non-enzymatic' peptides in metabolism take-over and hypothesize on potential biotechnical applications for such peptides. The highly phage-specific nature of the metabolic impact emphasizes the potential importance of the 'phage diversity' parameter when studying metabolic interactions in complex communities.

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Section: Observed Correlations Between the Phage-specific Metabolic Rsupporting

confidence: 73%

High coverage metabolomics analysis reveals phage-specific alterations to Pseudomonas aeruginosa physiology during infection

et al. 2016

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“…Considering the viral factory as the true nature of the virus implies that viruses represent specific living organisms (20,89). Consistent with this idea, Patrick Forterre and I suggested that the conflict between the two types of living entities, cells and viruses, has been the major engine of biological evolution in the framework of natural selection (21,22).…”

Section: What Can Be Inferred About the Nature And Evolution Of Virusmentioning

confidence: 92%

The Wonderful World of Archaeal Viruses

Prangishvili

2013

Annu. Rev. Microbiol.

139

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This review presents a personal account of research on archaeal viruses and describes many new viral species and families, demonstrating that viruses of Archaea constitute a distinctive part of the virosphere and display morphotypes that are not associated with the other two domains of life, Bacteria and Eukarya. I focus primarily on viruses that infect hyperthermophilic members of the phylum Crenarchaeota. These viruses' distinctiveness extends from their morphotypes to their genome sequences and the structures of the proteins they encode. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying the interactions of these viruses with their hosts also have unique features. Studies of archaeal viruses provide new perspectives concerning the nature, diversity, and evolution of virus-host interactions. Considering these studies, I associate the distinctions between bacterial and archaeal viruses with the fundamental differences in the envelope compositions of their host cells.

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“…For instance, one of us has previously suggested focusing on new methods enumerating infected cells (virocells) corresponding to the active form of viruses, rather than viral particles that are passive vehicles of viral genome dissemination (Forterre, 2013) and can be confused with MVs. However, the identification of virocells in natural environments is not an easy task and can be a subject to various pitfalls (discussed in Forterre et al, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%