WIKIMEDIA, NIAIDIntestinal inflammation caused by Salmonella infection activates bacteriophages within the bacteria to spread genes throughout the colony, according to a report published in Science today (March 16). The findings reveal how genetic traits encoded in the viruses, such as increased virulence, can rapidly emerge in pathogenic bacteria during infection.
“It is a really nice piece of work that elegantly demonstrates the influence of inflammation on bacteriophage activity in the gut,” medical microbiologist Chloe James of the University of Salford in Manchester, U.K., who was not involved in the work, wrote in an email to The Scientist.
“It’s a very high-quality paper,” echoed Rob Kingsley of the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, U.K., who also did not participate in the research. “It shows for the first time that something that is very important for the evolution of a pathogen—phage transfer—is triggered by the action of the pathogen itself during infection.”
Some bacteriophages—bacteria-infecting viruses—kill their hosts immediately. Others take up residence long-term. These temperate phages ensure their retention within a bacterial host by providing the ...
