ReviewGut microbes
Movers and shakers: influence of bacteriophages in shaping the mammalian gut microbiota.
Review in Gut microbes. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 149 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
149 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Characterization of the Oral and Gut Microbiota in Patients with Psoriatic Diseases: A Systematic Review.Acta dermato-venereologica · 2021Pooled it
- Gut bacteriophage dynamics during fecal microbial transplantation in subjects with metabolic syndrome.Gut microbesTrial
- Remodelling of the gut virome after long-term fasting.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Article
- Host-pathogen interactions in periodontitis: an integrative interkingdom perspective.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Associations and interactions between prokaryotes and other gut biota in non-human primates.Primates; journal of primatology · 2026Review
- Prophages and their interactions with lytic phages in the human gut microbiota and their impact on microbial diversity, gut health, and disease.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Review
- Ecology of the gut microbiota and colonization resistance: mechanisms and therapeutic implications.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2025Review
- Complete genome sequence of aMicrobiology resource announcements · 2025Article
- Article
- Gut virome characteristics associated with early onset of anemia and neurodevelopmental delay in preterm infants.iScience · 2025Article
- Prophage regulation ofeLife · 2025Article
- Gut Virome and Aging: Phage-Driven Microbial Stability and Immune Modulation.Aging and disease · 2025Review
- Comparative genomics and transcriptomics of theResearch square · 2025Article
- Gut virome profile in new onset treatment naïve Saudi children with ulcerative colitis.Saudi journal of gastroenterology : official journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association · 2025Article
- Risk Profile of Bacteriophages in the Food Chain.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Phage-Microbiota Crosstalk: Implications for Central Nervous System Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- [Basic knowledge of phages and their therapeutic application].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Article
- Factors Affecting Phage-Bacteria Coevolution Dynamics.Viruses · 2025Review
- The non-nutritive sweetener rebaudioside a enhances phage infectivity.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
89 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The human intestinal microbiota is one of the most densely populated ecosystems on Earth, containing up to 10 ( 13) bacteria/g and in some respects can be considered an organ itself given its role in human health. Bacteriophages (phages) are the most abundant replicating entities on the planet and thrive wherever their bacterial hosts exist. They undoubtedly influence the dominant microbial populations in many ecosystems including the human intestine. Within this setting, lysogeny appears to be the preferred life cycle, presumably due to nutrient limitations and lack of suitable hosts protected in biofilms, hence the predator/prey dynamic observed in many ecosystems is absent. On the other hand, free virulent phages in the gut are more common among sufferers of intestinal diseases and have been shown to increase with antibiotic usage. Many of these phages evolve from prophages of intestinal bacteria and emerge under conditions where their bacterial hosts encounter stress suggesting that prophages can significantly alter the microbial community composition. Based on these observations, we propose the "community shuffling" model which hypothesizes that prophage induction contributes to intestinal dysbiosis by altering the ratio of symbionts to pathobionts, enabling pathobiont niche reoccupation. The consequences of the increased phage load on the mammalian immune system are also addressed. While this is an area of intestinal biology which has received little attention, this review assembles evidence from the literature which supports the role of phages as one of the biological drivers behind the composition of the gut microbiota.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.