COMMUNICATE: Understanding the evolution and ecology of viral communication

沟通：了解病毒式传播的进化和生态

• 批准号: EP/X030377/1
• 负责人: Edze Rients Westra
• 金额: $ 219.62万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FX030377%2F1
• 关键词: COMMUNICATE; Understanding; evolution; ecology; viral

Viruses that infect bacteria (phage) are the most abundant biological entities on this planet, and play fundamental roles in the ecology and evolution of microbial communities and the ecosystem services they provide. Many phages can employ two lifestyles: lytic, where they replicate in infected cells to generate new virions, and lysogenic, where they remain dormant following an infection and wait for a future opportunity to become lytic. Every infection, phages must 'decide' whether to employ the lytic or the lysogenic cycle, but the principles governing this decision are largely unknown. It was recently demonstrated that some phages use molecular communication to coordinate their infection dynamics. Moreover, different phages use different communication molecules, effectively causing them to speak different languages. The discovery that viruses can communicate to make group decisions about their infection strategy has opened an entirely novel paradigm in virology, and raises many pressing questions. How widespread is the ability of viruses to communicate? Why do not all viruses communicate? What drives the diversification of viral communication systems? I will combine theoretical, experimental and observational approaches to address these questions, using Bacillus species in which these phages were identified as a model, but also aiming to identify analogous communication systems in phages that infect other bacterial species. This project will be the first to address the evolutionary ecology of viral communication systems. My team has strong expertise and track-record in studying molecular and evolutionary aspects of bacteria-phage interactions, and is perfectly placed to run this research program. I will spend 40% of my time on this project and will recruit 2 PDRFs and a PhD student to carry out this work, supported by a part-time technician. The work will take place at the University of Exeter, which has state-of-the-art facilities for Microbiology research

感染细菌（噬菌体）的病毒是这个星球上最丰富的生物学实体，并且在微生物群落的生态学和进化中扮演着基本角色及其提供的生态系统服务。许多噬菌体可以采用两种生活方式：裂解，它们在感染细胞中复制以产生新的病毒体，并在感染后保持休眠状态，并等待未来的机会成为裂解。每种感染，噬菌体都必须“决定”是使用裂解周期还是裂解周期，但是控制这一决定的原则在很大程度上是未知的。最近证明，某些噬菌体使用分子通信来协调其感染动力学。此外，不同的噬菌体使用不同的通信分子，有效地导致它们说不同的语言。病毒可以传达以做出有关其感染策略的小组决策的发现开辟了一个完全新颖的病毒学范式，并提出了许多紧迫的问题。病毒交流的能力有多普遍？为什么所有病毒都不交流？是什么推动了病毒通信系统的多元化？我将使用将这些噬菌体鉴定为模型的芽孢杆菌物种结合理论，实验和观察方法来解决这些问题，但也旨在鉴定感染其他细菌物种的噬菌体中的类似通信系统。该项目将是第一个解决病毒通信系统进化生态的项目。我的团队在研究细菌 - 含量相互作用的分子和进化方面具有强大的专业知识和田径记录，并且可以完美地运行该研究计划。我将花40％的时间在这个项目上，并将招募2个PDRF和一名博士生来执行这项工作，并由兼职技术员支持。这项工作将在埃克塞特大学进行，该大学拥有微生物研究的最新设施