Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35635166›Full record

ReviewPolish journal of microbiology2022

Should Bacteriophages Be Classified as Parasites or Predators?

Grzegorz Węgrzyn

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Polish journal of microbiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
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

19 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Characterization of defensome genes and mobile genetic Elements in different types of pasture soil agroecosystems from the Brazilian Amazon.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Prophage: agent provocateur?Archives of microbiology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Phage-encoded depolymerases as a strategy for combating multidrug-resistantFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024
    Review
  13. A novelFrontiers in microbiology · 2024
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Four NovelViruses · 2023
    Article
  16. Microorganisms · 2023
    Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Biological aspects of phage therapy versus antibiotics againstFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    Article
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

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Grzegorz WęgrzynDepartment of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4042-7466
University of Gdańsk · PL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bacteriophages are viruses infecting bacteria and propagating in bacterial cells. They were discovered over 100 years ago, and for decades they played crucial roles as models in genetics and molecular biology and as tools in genetic engineering and biotechnology. Now we also recognize their huge role in natural environment and their importance in human health and disease. Despite our understanding of bacteriophage mechanisms of development, these viruses are described as parasites or predators in the literature. From the biological point of view, there are fundamental differences between parasites and predators. Therefore, in this article, I asked whether bacteriophages should be classified as former or latter biological entities. Analysis of the literature and biological definitions led me to conclude that bacteriophages are parasites rather than predators and should be classified and described as such. If even more precise ecological classification is needed, bacteriophages can perhaps be included in the group of parasitoids. It might be the most appropriate formal classification of these viruses, especially if strictly virulent phages are considered, contrary to phages which lysogenize host cells and those which develop according to the permanent infection mode (or chronic cycle, like filamentous phages) revealing features of classical parasites.

Indexed as

BacteriophagesParasitesAnimalsBacteriaHumansbacteriophagesparasitismparasitoidspredation

Identifiers

PMID35635166
PMCPMC9152906
OpenAlexW4214604089

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.