Gut microbiome: Temperate and latent phages are dominant in the human gut.

Abstract

Most gut bacteria are lysogens, harboring temperate phages whose induction leads to host lysis and disrupts the microbiome. A recent paper combines mathematical modeling to calculate the virus-to-microbe ratio in the gut and estimates a phage-induction rate of approximately 0.001-0.01 per bacterium per day. This provides new insights into the population dynamics and lifestyle characteristics of human gut phages.