TY - JOUR
T1 - Phages in the human body
AU - Navarro, Ferran
AU - Muniesa, Maite
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Navarro and Muniesa.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/4/4
Y1 - 2017/4/4
N2 - Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, have re-emerged as powerful regulators of bacterial populations in natural ecosystems. Phages invade the human body, just as they do other natural environments, to such an extent that they are the most numerous group in the human virome. This was only revealed in recent metagenomic studies, despite the fact that the presence of phages in the human body was reported decades ago. The influence of the presence of phages in humans has yet to be evaluated; but as in marine environments, a clear role in the regulation of bacterial populations could be envisaged, that might have an impact on human health. Moreover, phages are excellent vehicles of genetic transfer, and they contribute to the evolution of bacterial cells in the human body by spreading and acquiring DNA horizontally. The abundance of phages in the human body does not pass unnoticed and the immune system reacts to them, although it is not clear to what extent. Finally, the presence of phages in human samples, which most of the time is not considered, can influence and bias microbiological and molecular results; and, in view of the evidences, some studies suggest that more attention needs to be paid to their interference.
AB - Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, have re-emerged as powerful regulators of bacterial populations in natural ecosystems. Phages invade the human body, just as they do other natural environments, to such an extent that they are the most numerous group in the human virome. This was only revealed in recent metagenomic studies, despite the fact that the presence of phages in the human body was reported decades ago. The influence of the presence of phages in humans has yet to be evaluated; but as in marine environments, a clear role in the regulation of bacterial populations could be envisaged, that might have an impact on human health. Moreover, phages are excellent vehicles of genetic transfer, and they contribute to the evolution of bacterial cells in the human body by spreading and acquiring DNA horizontally. The abundance of phages in the human body does not pass unnoticed and the immune system reacts to them, although it is not clear to what extent. Finally, the presence of phages in human samples, which most of the time is not considered, can influence and bias microbiological and molecular results; and, in view of the evidences, some studies suggest that more attention needs to be paid to their interference.
KW - Bacteriophages
KW - Diagnosis
KW - Homeostasis
KW - Human biomes
KW - Metagenomics
KW - Virome
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018302686&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00566
DO - 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00566
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018302686
SN - 1664-302X
VL - 8
JO - Frontiers in Microbiology
JF - Frontiers in Microbiology
IS - APR
M1 - 566
ER -