AUTHOR=Braga Lucas P. P. , Soucy Shannon M. , Amgarten Deyvid E. , da Silva Aline M. , Setubal João C. 

TITLE=Bacterial Diversification in the Light of the Interactions with Phages: The Genetic Symbionts and Their Role in Ecological Speciation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2018.00006

DOI=10.3389/fevo.2018.00006

ISSN=2296-701X

ABSTRACT=<p>Phages have a major impact on microbial populations. In this work, we discuss how predation, transduction, lysogeny, and phage domestication lead to symbio-centric genomic interactions between bacteria and phages, ranging from antagonistic to mutualistic. Furthermore, these interactions influence bacterial diversification and ecotype formation. We then propose an additional consideration in the form of a symbio-centric ecological speciation framework for bacteria. Our framework builds upon classical morphological and molecular taxonomy by also considering bacteria and their phages as a unit of evolutionary selection. This framework acknowledges the considerable effect that phage interaction has on bacterial genomic content, regulation, and evolution, and will advance our understanding of bacterial evolution.</p>