Bacteriophage biologist and enthusiast. Associate Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Monash University.
Jeremy Barr
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Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut
Out now in Nature, by Sofia Dahlman, Jeremy Barr & colleagues. @jeremyjbarr.bsky.social
#microsky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- We test ten diverse induction agents, and the most surprising one was that human cellular lysis products were strong inducers of temperate phages, suggestive of a mechanistic link between gastrointestinal cell lysis/inflammation and the gut virome.
Im really excited for this work as it sets up a platform for us to study, characterise, and eventually determine what impacts temperate phages may have on the human gut microbiome. Future work may even allow us to manipulate the gut using these unique viruses.
- Temperate phage biology is HARD. We cant using traditional PFU plating (due to superinfection immunity), most isolates were poly-lysogens, equipment required is expensive and technically limiting, and the methods to study these phage had not been developed.
