About this Research Topic

Background

Bacteriophages were discovered and described one hundred years ago as specialized parasites being able to infect and kill exclusively bacteria. From the beginning of their discovery, they have been assumed to serve as a potential treatment for bacterial infections in humans and animals, but this concept faded away with time, when the first natural antibiotics were discovered and introduced.

Although phage-bacterial interactions have been studied since the beginning of their discovery, still little is known about their global ecological impact. Likewise, the influence of bacteriophages on spread, adaptation and evolution of bacterial host communities is largely unknown. Furthermore, for bacterial plant pathogens, the knowledge of bacteria-bacteriophage interactions in complex and diverse natural and agricultural environments is even more limited.

It is generally accepted that both lytic and lysogenic bacteriophages are able to influence the structure of bacterial populations and therefore may influence plant-pathogenic and plant-beneficial hosts.

This proposed Research Topic will focus therefore on all areas relating to lytic and lysogenic bacteriophages isolated from various environments. The major aim is to examine the impact of bacteriophages on the adaptation and evolution of the bacterial host in agricultural and plant-associated surroundings. The Topic will also encourage submissions that investigate the possible use of environmental phage isolates in the biotechnology-related research.

Keywords: Bacterial viruses, biological control, molecular basis of infection, adsorption, co-adaptation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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