ArticleNature2017
Communication between viruses guides lysis-lysogeny decisions.
Article in Nature, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 307 papers.
What it found
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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
307 citing papers in PubMed, 631 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Revealing the secrets of quorum sensing: a comprehensive review from signal mechanisms to practical applications.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- The molecular basis of ADP-ribose pyrophosphorylation by a phage PRPS-like enzyme in NAD+ reconstitution.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- From hijackers to architects: the role of prophages in bacterial genome evolution.Journal of bacteriology · 2026Review
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- Phage host range: determinants, dynamics and applications.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Competing Inter-Domain Quorum-Sensing Systems Control Prophage Lysis-Lysogeny Decisions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Alterations in the fecal virome and bacteriome-virome interplay in IPAH.Respiratory research · 2026Article
- Decoding phage communication: molecular networks, evolutionary dynamics, and therapeutic applications.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2026Review
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- On the Low Abundance of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Bacteriophage Genomes and Their Random Acquisition via Specialized Transduction.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Predicted and inducible prophages display contrasting virulence gene profiles within the prophage-SaPI mobilome ofmSphere · 2026Article
- Complex temporal dynamics of phage-bacteria populations in an animal-associated marine system.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Phages and quorum sensing: findings to consider in phage therapy.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026Review
- Cross-kingdom microbial interactions in the gut during inflammatory bowel disease.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Voices of Eukaryotic Microbes: Chemical Communication Via Quorum Sensing.Microbial ecology · 2026Review
- Phage infection fronts trigger early sporulation and viral entrapment in bacterial populations.The ISME journal · 2026Article
247 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Temperate viruses can become dormant in their host cells, a process called lysogeny. In every infection, such viruses decide between the lytic and the lysogenic cycles, that is, whether to replicate and lyse their host or to lysogenize and keep the host viable. Here we show that viruses (phages) of the SPbeta group use a small-molecule communication system to coordinate lysis-lysogeny decisions. During infection of its Bacillus host cell, the phage produces a six amino-acids-long communication peptide that is released into the medium. In subsequent infections, progeny phages measure the concentration of this peptide and lysogenize if the concentration is sufficiently high. We found that different phages encode different versions of the communication peptide, demonstrating a phage-specific peptide communication code for lysogeny decisions. We term this communication system the 'arbitrium' system, and further show that it is encoded by three phage genes: aimP, which produces the peptide; aimR, the intracellular peptide receptor; and aimX, a negative regulator of lysogeny. The arbitrium system enables a descendant phage to 'communicate' with its predecessors, that is, to estimate the amount of recent previous infections and hence decide whether to employ the lytic or lysogenic cycle.
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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.