Comparative phage genomics and the evolution of Siphoviridae: insights from dairy phages.

Mol Microbiol

Nestlé Research Centre, Nestec Ltd, CH-1000 Lausanne 26, Switzerland.

Published: January 2001

AI Article Synopsis

  • Comparative phage genomics helps trace the evolutionary history of phages by analyzing gene modules related to their specific functions, not just by sequence similarity but also by how their genomes are organized.
  • Phages such as lambda, psiM2, and phiC31 demonstrate a strong synteny in their structural genes, indicating a close evolutionary relationship known as the lambda supergroup within the Siphoviridae family.
  • Both vertical evolution and horizontal gene transfer contribute to the genetic diversity of tailed phages, making them a valuable model for studying complex evolutionary patterns.

Article Abstract

Comparative phage genomics can retrace part of the evolutionary history of phage modules encoding phage-specific functions such as capsid building or establishment of the lysogenic state. The diagnosis of relatedness is not based exclusively on sequence similarity, but includes topological considerations of genome organization. The gene maps from the lambda-, psiM2-, L5-, Sfi21-, Sfi11-, phiC31-, sk1- and TM4-like phages showed a remarkable synteny of their structural genes defining a lambda supergroup within Siphoviridae (Caudovirales with long non-contractile tails). A hierarchy of relatedness within the lambda supergroup suggested elements of vertical evolution in the capsid module of Siphoviridae. Links to P22-like Podoviridae and P2-like Myoviridae were also detected. Numerous cases of horizontal gene transfer were observed, but recent transfers were limited to interbreeding phage populations. We suggest that tailed phages are the result of both vertical and horizontal evolution and are thus a good model system for web-like phylogenies.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02228.xDOI Listing

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