Virtually all plants and animals, including humans, are home to symbiotic microorganisms.
Symbiotic interactions can be neutral, harmful or have beneficial effects on the host …

The most widespread intracellular bacteria in the animal kingdom are maternally inherited
endosymbionts of the genus Wolbachia. Their prevalence in arthropods and nematodes …

Gene exchange between viruses and their hosts acts as a key facilitator of horizontal gene
transfer and is hypothesized to be a major driver of evolutionary change. Our understanding …

The host range of a bacteriophage is the taxonomic diversity of hosts it can successfully
infect. Host range, one of the central traits to understand in phages, is determined by a range …

Viruses that infect microbial hosts have traditionally been studied in laboratory settings with
a focus on either obligate lysis or persistent lysogeny. In the environment, these infection …

Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is the most common symbiont-induced reproductive
manipulation. Specifically, symbiont-induced sperm modifications cause catastrophic mitotic …

The genus Wolbachia is an archetype of maternally inherited intracellular bacteria that infect
the germline of numerous invertebrate species worldwide. They can selfishly alter arthropod …

Bacterial viruses are among the most numerous biological entities within the human body.
These viruses are found within regions of the body that have conventionally been …

Highlights•Phages drive horizontal gene transfer between prokaryotes.•Lysogenic
conversion provides novel adaptive traits, at the cost of eventual lysis.•Prophages account …

The human body is colonized by a diverse collective of microorganisms, including bacteria,
fungi, protozoa and viruses. The smallest entity of this microbial conglomerate are the …