COMMUNICATE: Understanding the evolution and ecology of viral communication

感染细菌的病毒(噬菌体)是地球上最丰富的生物实体，在微生物群落的生态和进化及其提供的生态系统服务中发挥着基础性作用。许多噬菌体可以采用两种生活方式：裂解，它们在感染的细胞中复制，产生新的病毒粒子；溶源，感染后保持休眠状态，等待未来的裂解机会。每一次感染，噬菌体都必须‘决定’是采用裂解循环还是溶源循环，但指导这一决定的原则在很大程度上是未知的。最近发现，一些噬菌体利用分子通讯来协调其感染动力学。此外，不同的噬菌体使用不同的通讯分子，有效地导致它们说不同的语言。病毒可以交流以对其感染策略做出群体决策的发现开启了病毒学的全新范式，并提出了许多紧迫的问题。病毒的通信能力有多普遍？为什么不是所有的病毒都能相互通信？是什么推动了病毒传播系统的多样化？我将结合理论、实验和观察的方法来解决这些问题，使用芽孢杆菌物种，在其中这些噬菌体被确定为模型，但也旨在识别感染其他细菌物种的噬菌体中类似的沟通系统。这个项目将是第一个研究病毒传播系统进化生态的项目。我的团队在研究细菌-噬菌体相互作用的分子和进化方面拥有丰富的专业知识和记录，并完全适合运行这一研究计划。我将花费我的40%的时间在这个项目上，将招聘2名PDRF和一名博士生来开展这项工作，由一名兼职技术人员支持。这项工作将在埃克塞特大学进行，该大学拥有最先进的微生物学研究设施

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