Ecotype formation and prophage domestication during gut bacterial evolution
BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology(2023)
Abstract
How much bacterial evolution occurs in our intestines and which factors control it are currently burning questions. The formation of new ecotypes, some of which capable of coexisting for long periods of time, is highly likely in our guts. Horizontal gene transfer driven by temperate phages that can perform lysogeny is also widespread in mammalian intestines. Yet, the roles of mutation and especially lysogeny as key drivers of gut bacterial adaptation remain poorly understood. The mammalian gut contains hundreds of bacterial species, each with many strains and ecotypes, whose abundance varies along the lifetime of a host. A continuous high input of mutations and horizontal gene transfer events mediated by temperate phages drives that diversity. Future experiments to study the interaction between mutations that cause adaptation in microbiomes and lysogenic events with different costs and benefits will be key to understand the dynamic microbiomes of mammals.
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Key words
bacteria, ecotype, epistasis, evolution, gut, horizontal gene transfer, lysogeny, microbiota, mutation, negative-frequency-dependent-selection, prophage domestication, temperate bacteriophage
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