Evidence of a Set of Core-Function Genes in 16 Bacillus Podoviral Genomes with Considerable Genomic Diversity.

Bacteriophage genomes represent an enormous level of genetic diversity and provide considerable potential to acquire new insights about viral genome evolution. In this study, the genome sequences of sixteen -infecting bacteriophages were explored through comparative genomics approaches to reveal shared and unique characteristics. These bacteriophages are in the family with small (18,548-27,206 bp) double-stranded DNA genomes encoding 25-46 predicted open reading frames.