Bacteria hijack latent phage of competitor

(University of Vienna) Bacteriophages are still a relatively unknown component of the human microbiome. However, they can play a powerful role in the life cycles of bacteria. Biochemist Thomas B ö ttcher from the University of Vienna and Ph.D. student Magdalena Jancheva were able to show for the first time how Pseudomonas bacteria use a self-produced signal molecule to selectively manipulate phages in a competing bacterial strain to defeat their enemy.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: news