Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29867096›Full record

ReviewNature microbiology2018

Phage puppet masters of the marine microbial realm.

Mya Breitbart, Chelsea Bonnain, Kema Malki, Natalie A Sawaya

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature microbiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 364 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
364citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

364 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Revisiting the life cycle of temperate phages.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026
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  14. Physical encounters impose a consistency-amount trade-off on bacterial group formation in marine environments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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304 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Mya BreitbartCollege of Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA. mya@usf.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3210-2899
Chelsea BonnainCollege of Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA.
Kema MalkiCollege of Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA.
Natalie A SawayaCollege of Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Viruses numerically dominate our oceans; however, we have only just begun to document the diversity, host range and infection dynamics of marine viruses, as well as the subsequent effects of infection on both host cell metabolism and oceanic biogeochemistry. Bacteriophages (that is, phages: viruses that infect bacteria) are highly abundant and are known to play critical roles in bacterial mortality, biogeochemical cycling and horizontal gene transfer. This Review Article summarizes current knowledge of marine viral ecology and highlights the importance of phage particles to the dissolved organic matter pool, as well as the complex interactions between phages and their bacterial hosts. We emphasize the newly recognized roles of phages as puppet masters of their bacterial hosts, where phages are capable of altering the metabolism of infected bacteria through the expression of auxiliary metabolic genes and the redirection of host gene expression patterns. Finally, we propose the 'royal family model' as a hypothesis to describe successional patterns of bacteria and phages over time in marine systems, where despite high richness and significant seasonal differences, only a small number of phages appear to continually dominate a given marine ecosystem. Although further testing is required, this model provides a framework for assessing the specificity and ecological consequences of phage-host dynamics.

Indexed as

BacteriaBacteriophagesEcological and Environmental PhenomenaGene Transfer, HorizontalHost-Pathogen InteractionsSeawater

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.