What are bacteriophages? Are they important for our ecology and what do we know about them? Join the host Federico De Angelis in understanding what these viruses are, what they do and how we can harness their potential.

Takeaways:

-      Bacteriophages are bacterial viruses. They only infect bacteria.

-      They are the most abundant biological entity on the planet.

-      Phages are very specific, with one phage species infecting a single bacterial species.

-      Phages have two distinct infectious cycles. The lytic cycle during which they infect bacteria and kill them by bursting out, and the lysogenic cycle, where their genome is integrated in the genome of their host, turning them into prophages.

-       Sometimes lysogenic phages establish symbiotic relationships with their host, for example Vibrio cholera, the bug responsible for Cholera, has a prophage in its genome that encodes for the toxin responsible for the watery diarrhea it causes.

-       Phages can be engineered to target specific virulent bacteria and treat antibiotic resistant infections.

Additional info for the most interested:

Review on sea phages - https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04160

In-depth article about Vibrio cholera - https://www.nature.com/articles/nrmicro2204

Resource on bacteriophages biology - https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/biology-of-viruses/virus-biology/a/bacteriophages

TedX Talk on Phage therapy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPqbcvCTE80&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

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