Academic Journal
Single-phage profiling illuminates viral individuality during bacterial cell fate determination.
| Τίτλος: | Single-phage profiling illuminates viral individuality during bacterial cell fate determination. |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Homaee E; Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.; Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA., Zhu W; Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.; Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.; NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology, Urbana, IL, USA., Yao T; Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA., Golding I; Department of Physics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. igolding@illinois.edu.; Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. igolding@illinois.edu.; NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology, Urbana, IL, USA. igolding@illinois.edu.; Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. igolding@illinois.edu. |
| Πηγή: | Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2026 May 30; Vol. 17 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 May 30. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Nature Pub. Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101528555 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2041-1723 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20411723 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nat Commun Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: [London] : Nature Pub. Group |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Escherichia coli*/virology , Escherichia coli*/genetics , Bacteriophage lambda*/genetics , Bacteriophage lambda*/physiology, Lysogeny/genetics ; Bacteriolysis/genetics ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Genome, Viral ; Virus Replication ; Transcription, Genetic |
| Περίληψη: | The choice between cell death (lysis) and viral dormancy (lysogeny) following bacteriophage infection serves as a founding paradigm for the emergence of cellular heterogeneity in a genetically uniform population. The determination of host fate arises through the stochastic transcription from multiple viral genomes present within each cell, but this activity remains hidden from empirical interrogation, which typically stops at the whole-cell level. Here we use parallel sequential fluorescence in situ hybridization (par-seqFISH), followed by spatial clustering of phage-encoded transcripts within each cell, to profile the transcriptional activity of individual phages during synchronized infection of Escherichia coli by bacteriophage lambda. At the whole-cell level, transcription kinetics capture the developmental choice between lysis and lysogeny, and further demonstrate that intracellular viral replication is required for the emergence of diverging fate decisions. Zooming in to the single-phage level illuminates an individuality of viral activity during infection. We find that, while cells pursuing lysogeny display consensus activity of all inhabiting phages, lytic cells may contain phages that exhibit lysogenic activity. These findings support an earlier suggestion that consensus among coinfecting phages is required for cell dormancy. More broadly, our results highlight the need to identify how whole-cell behavior emerges from the activity of physically distinct copies of the same genetic circuit. (© 2026. The Author(s).) |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. |
| Σχόλια: | Update of: bioRxiv. 2026 Feb 20:2026.02.20.707030. doi: 10.64898/2026.02.20.707030.. (PMID: 41756978) |
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| Grant Information: | R35 GM140709 United States GM NIGMS NIH HHS; 2243257 National Science Foundation (NSF); G-2023-19649 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260530 Date Completed: 20260722 Latest Revision: 20260726 |
| Update Code: | 20260726 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC13392384 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-026-73867-7 |
| PMID: | 42218155 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
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