Phages and Human Health: More Than Idle Hitchhikers

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect bacteria and archaea. Phages have diverse morphologies and can be coded in DNA or RNA and as single or double strands with a large range of genome sizes. With the increasing use of metagenomic sequencing approaches to analyze complex samples, many s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inViruses Vol. 11; no. 7; p. 587
Main Authors Lawrence, Dylan, Baldridge, Megan T., Handley, Scott A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 27.06.2019
MDPI
Subjects
Animals
Archaea
Bacteria
Bacterial infections
bacteriophage
bacteriophages
Bacteriophages - classification
Bacteriophages - genetics
Bacteriophages - isolation & purification
Bacteriophages - physiology
Biology
digestive system
DNA
Drug resistance
Gastrointestinal Tract - virology
genome
Genome, Viral
Genomes
genomics
Health
human health
Humans
infants
inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel diseases
Metagenomics
microbiome
Microbiota
patients
Phages
Proteins
Review
RNA
virome
virome
genomics
bacteriophage
microbiome
metagenomics
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Summary:Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that infect bacteria and archaea. Phages have diverse morphologies and can be coded in DNA or RNA and as single or double strands with a large range of genome sizes. With the increasing use of metagenomic sequencing approaches to analyze complex samples, many studies generate massive amounts of “viral dark matter”, or sequences of viral origin unable to be classified either functionally or taxonomically. Metagenomic analysis of phages is still in its infancy, and uncovering novel phages continues to be a challenge. Work over the past two decades has begun to uncover key roles for phages in different environments, including the human gut. Recent studies in humans have identified expanded phage populations in both healthy infants and in inflammatory bowel disease patients, suggesting distinct phage activity during development and in specific disease states. In this review, we examine our current knowledge of phage biology and discuss recent efforts to improve the analysis and discovery of novel phages. We explore the roles phages may play in human health and disease and discuss the future of phage research.
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ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v11070587