Open Access

REVIEW

Prophages domesticated by bacteria promote the adaptability of bacterial cells

ZICHEN LIU¹, YUNFENG DENG², MENGZHI JI¹, WENQING SUN^2,*, XIANGYU FAN^1,*

1 College of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan, 250022, China
2 Shandong Provincial Chest Hospital, Jinan, 250013, China

* Address correspondence to: Wenqing Sun, ; Xiangyu Fan,

BIOCELL 2020, 44(2), 157-166. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2020.09917

Received 29 January 2020; Accepted 14 April 2020; Issue published 27 May 2020

Abstract

Prophages are temperate phages integrated into the host bacterial genome. They play an important role in the adaptation and the pathogenicity of bacteria, especially pathogenic bacteria. In this review, we described the distribution of prophages in different hosts and different environments, and focused on the significance of prophages. At the singlecell level, prophages can help the host adapt to harsh external environments by directly carrying virulence genes, encoding regulatory factors and activating lysogeny. At the population level, prophages can influence the overall evolutionary direction and ecological function of the host bacterial community. This review will help us understand the important role of prophages as unique organisms in individual bacteria and microbial populations.

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Citations