Bacteriophage Diversity
Susan M. Lehman
from: Viruses of Microorganisms (Edited by: Paul Hyman and Stephen T. Abedon). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2018) Pages: 145-166.
Abstract
Over 100 years of research, our understanding of bacteriophage diversity has expanded from the hypothesis of a single, highly adaptable phage species to an appreciation for the tremendous diversity that can exist in a millilitre of seawater. This progression is evident from the way that phage taxonomy has changed over time, as new tools for studying phages were developed. Basic microbiological methods were joined by electron microscopy. Resolving the structure of DNA ushered in the genetics era that has ultimately led to rapid, inexpensive sequencing and the multi-faceted "-omics" approaches. The result has been an increasingly sophisticated understanding of phage diversity from a population level down to the dynamics of a single phage-host infection read more ...
