Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that parasitize bacteria, hold tremendous potential as antimicrobial agents, microbiome modulators, and industrial biocontrol tools; yet clinical and environmental app...

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 29 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02482-5This platform identifies phages capable of infecting specific bacterial strains using genome sequences alone and could enable rational phage-therapy design and precision microbiome engineering.

* Disclaimer: This is not a scientific review, just a few thoughts I had while reading..

Abstract. Interactions between bacteria, bacteriophages, and their satellites are shaped by a myriad of defence and counter-defence mechanisms. Here, we id

Bienvenue sur le site du réseau “Phages.fr” Le réseau “Phages.fr” regroupe des scientifiques qui travaillent sur les thématiques incluant les bactériophages dont l’étude des structures, interactions moléculaires & cellulaires, écologie & évolution, thérapie phagique et biocontrôle en santé humaine, végétale & animale et industrie ainsi que des Sciences humaines et sociales. Ces scientifiques appartiennent à différents instituts publics français de recherche tels que CNRS (principal financeur), INRAE, INSERM, ANSES, Institut Pasteur mais aussi de nombreuses universités (Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Nancy, Paris, etc) et hôpitaux, avec aussi la participation de membres d’entreprises.

While the dynamic changes in genome organization in cellular organisms have been well described, the three-dimensional (3D) folding of phage genomes during the infection of their host is extremely lim...

Theory-guided experiments reveal single-cell heterogeneity of lysis-associated bacteriophage traits from population scale data.

Abstract. Bacteriophages can evolve rapidly. Mutation and recombination via horizontal gene transfer allow them to counter adaptive responses by microbial

Erdrich et al. investigated the molecular interplay underlying bacteriophage-based biocontrol, using natural bacterial viruses for plant protection. They uncovered that phage-treated plants maintain b...

Nature Microbiology, Published online: 23 June 2026; doi:10.1038/s41564-026-02395-3Predicting infection heterogeneity requires looking beyond the host. Phage–bacteria coevolution in tomato fields maintains diverse bacterial strategies and explains uneven disease occurrence across plant populations.

Prophages are pervasive in the human gut yet largely overlooked in microbiome research, despite substantial functional potential. Emerging evidence indicates that prophages regulate bacterial fitness,...

Phages modulate plant microbiomes through bacterial lysis and by equipping bacteria with auxiliary genes through lysogeny. In this Forum, we highlight the underappreciated role of phages in plant heal...

Comprehensive assessment of the host range of phages is a prerequisite for their safe and effective use in multiple applications but is rarely undertaken. This Review outlines the molecular and ecolog...

Our study reveals a previously overlooked mechanism enabling coexistence under intraguild predation. Using long-term experiments and behavioural tests, we show that consumption rates and aggressive b...

TnPedia provides a curated framework for understanding prokaryotic transposable elements (TEs), including general and historical information and basic…

Cook et al. reveal bacteriophage diversity progressively declines with COPD severity. Frequent exacerbators uniquely show decoupled viral-bacterial relationships. Virulence-encoding phages associate w...

Author summary Viruses that infect bacteria, known as phages, are part of microbial communities and influence the abundance, diversity, and traits of their hosts. In an agriculture-related context, th...

Intestinal barrier integrity is crucial for gut homeostasis. Douadi et al. show that bacteriophages can cross this barrier without causing damage and that translocation rates depend on the barrier sta...

Microbiome analyses of living trees show that a single tree can host approximately one trillion bacteria, with microbial communities distinctly partitioned between heartwood and sapwood and with minim...

Viruses are omnipresent and the most abundant biological entities on the planet. They play a critical role in shaping the ecology and evolution of all life forms. This chapter provides methods to perf...