Horizontal gene transfer is an important evolutionary force, facilitating bacterial diversity. It is
thought to be pervasive in host-associated microbiomes, where bacterial densities are high …

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) drives microbial adaptation but is often under the control of
mobile genetic elements (MGEs) whose interests are not necessarily aligned with those of …

Temperate Bacillus phages often utilize arbitrium communication to control lysis/lysogeny
decisions, but the mechanisms by which this control is exerted remains largely unknown …

Temperate bacterial viruses (phages) can transition between lysis—replicating and killing
the host—and lysogeny, that is, existing as dormant prophages while keeping the host …

The ease with which bacteria can evolve resistance to phages is a key consideration for
development of phage therapy. Here, we review recent work on the different evolutionary …

Prophages control their lifestyle to either be maintained within the host genome or enter the
lytic cycle. Bacillus subtilis contains the SPβ prophage whose lysogenic state depends on …

Temperate phages dynamically switch between lysis and lysogeny in their full life cycle.
Some Bacillus-infecting phages utilize a quorum-sensing-like intercellular communication …

Phages can use a small-molecule communication arbitrium system to coordinate lysis–
lysogeny decisions, but the underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here we determined …

As part of their survival strategy under harsh environmental conditions, endospore-forming
bacteria can trigger a sporulation developmental program. Although the regulatory cascades …

Highlights•Interactions between bacteria and phages are in a continuum between extreme
antagonism and occasional symbiosis, resulting in hypervarible defense and …