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Prophages in Salmonella enterica : a driving force in reshaping the genome and physiology of their bacterial host?
Author(s) -
Wahl Astrid,
Battesti Aurélia,
Ansaldi Mireille
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.14167
Subject(s) - prophage , lysogenic cycle , biology , genome , bacterial genome size , salmonella enterica , host (biology) , salmonella , temperateness , genetics , virulence , bacteriophage , gene , bacteria , escherichia coli
Summary Thanks to the exponentially increasing number of publicly available bacterial genome sequences, one can now estimate the important contribution of integrated viral sequences to the diversity of bacterial genomes. Indeed, temperate bacteriophages are able to stably integrate the genome of their host through site‐specific recombination and transmit vertically to the host siblings. Lysogenic conversion has been long acknowledged to provide additional functions to the host, and particularly to bacterial pathogen genomes where prophages contribute important virulence factors. This review aims particularly at highlighting the current knowledge and questions about lysogeny in Salmonella genomes where functional prophages are abundant, and where genetic interactions between host and prophages are of particular importance for human health considerations.