Bacteriophage Genomics
A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 48259
Special Issue Editor
Interests: virus evolution; human bocavirus; complete genome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Bacteriophages (or phages) are viruses of prokaryotes and are the most abundant biological entities known so far. The approximate size of the global phage population is more than 1031 phage particles, and recent studies have shown that bacteriophages play an important role in the biosphere. The natural genetic diversity of bacteriophage genomes is enormous, and their genome architectures are typically mosaic. This genetic diversity is first of all driven by the recombination between bacteriophage genomes and horizontal gene transfer from the host genomes. The evolution of bacteriophages is different for that of temperate and lytic phages and depends on the host and genetic structure of phages. Thus, the taxonomic classification of bacteriophages is a complex problem. At present, according to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) and Bacterial and Archaeal Subcommittee (BAVS) within the ICTV, bacteriophages are classified by the type of nucleic acid, the structure of the virus capsid, etc. The number of bacteriophage families is constantly increasing as new objects are studied. Today, bacteriophages are classified into 3 orders (Petitvirales, Tubulavirales and Caudovirales) and 22 families. The vast majority of sequenced bacteriophage genomes belong to double-stranded DNA phages. The diversity of bacteriophage genomes is very large: Genome sizes range from 4 to almost 700 kb.
This Special Issue of Microorganisms will be dedicated to the topic of Bacteriophage Genomics. This includes but is not limited to the following themes: bacteriophage comparative genomics and proteomics, phage genome evolution, phage rates of mutation and recombination, isolation and characterization of new phages, genomics approach for identifying host-range determinants in bacteriophages, bacteriophage taxonomy, approaches to the artificial phage host range management, bacteriophage-mediated gene transfers, as well as other aspects of bacteriophage molecular biology.
Dr. Igor V. Babkin
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- bacteriophage
- comparative genomics
- recombination
- phylogeny
- horizontal gene transfer
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