ArticleCell host & microbe2025
The prototypic crAssphage is a linear phage-plasmid.
Article in Cell host & microbe, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Phage host range: determinants, dynamics and applications.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- The chicken gut virome: spatial structuring and extensive diversity of 19,778 viral populations.mSystems · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- Persistent virulent phages exist across bacterial isolates.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Identification and characterization of a novel plaque-invisible lytic single-stranded RNA phage.Journal of virology · 2025Article
- Adaptations in gut Bacteroidales facilitate stable co-existence with their lytic bacteriophages.Gut microbes · 2025Article
- KlebPhaCol: a community-driven resource for Klebsiella research identified a novel phage family.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Plasmid and phage lifestyles in crAssphage.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Article
- Phages with a broad host range are common across ecosystems.Nature microbiology · 2025Article
- Abundance measurements reveal the balance between lysis and lysogeny in the human gut microbiome.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Characteristics of phage-plasmids and their impact on microbial communities.Essays in biochemistry · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The prototypic crAssphage (Carjivirus communis) is an abundant, prevalent, and persistent human gut bacteriophage, yet it remains uncultured and its lifestyle uncharacterized. C. communis does not readily plaque, suggesting a largely non-lytic lifestyle. Here, we find that C. communis is a linear phage-plasmid that stably persists extrachromosomally within its host. Plasmid and phage-related genes are transcribed, and multiple putative replication origins may initiate replication for multiple lifestyles and genome conformations, including both circular and linear formations. Leveraging these findings, we use a plaque-free culturing approach to measure C. communis replication on prevalent gut bacteria, notably Phocaeicola vulgatus, P. dorei, and Bacteroides stercoris, revealing a broad host range. C. communis persists without causing major cell lysis events or integrating into host chromosomes. Taken together, C. communis' ability to switch between phage and plasmid lifestyles within a wide range of hosts may contribute to its widespread presence in human gut microbiomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.