2025/01/01 by Charles Bernard, Yannick Labreuche, Carine Diarra +14 · 1 voice · 7 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · #Aquaculture disease management and microbiota #Bacteria #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Biology #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Gene #Generalist and specialist species #Genetics #Genome #Host (biology) #Range (aeronautics) #Vibrio #Vibrio bacteria research studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/ismejo/wraf063
published in The ISME Journal 19(1) (Springer Nature)
openalex publication_date 2025/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
The host range of a bacteriophage-the diversity of hosts it can infect-is central to understanding phage ecology and applications. Whereas most well-characterized phages have narrow host ranges, broad-host-range phages represent an intriguing component of marine ecosystems. The genetic and evolutionary mechanisms driving their generalism remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed Schizotequatroviruses and their Vibrio crassostreae hosts, collected from an oyster farm. Schizotequatroviruses exhibit broad host ranges, large genomes (~252 kbp) encoding 26 transfer ribonucleic acids, and conserved genomic organization interspersed with recombination hotspots. These recombination events, particularly in regions encoding receptor-binding proteins and antidefense systems, highlight their adaptability to host resistance. Some lineages demonstrated the ability of receptor-switching between OmpK and LamB. Despite their broad host range, Schizotequatroviruses were rare in the environment. Their scarcity could not be attributed to burst size, which was comparable to other phages in vitro, but may result from ecological constraints or fitness trade-offs, such as their preference for targeting generalist vibrios in seawater rather than the patho-phylotypes selected in oyster farms. Our findings clarify the genetic and ecological variables shaping Schizotequatrovirus generalism and provide a foundation for future phage applications in aquaculture and beyond.