ArticlePLoS biology2026
Microgravity reshapes bacteriophage-host coevolution aboard the International Space Station.
Article in PLoS biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- COVID-19 in Space: Possible Health Risks and Preparedness Guidelines.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Review
- Phage-host dynamics in space.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Article
- Cosmic silence and viral noise: transcriptomic crosstalk inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bacteriophage-host interactions play a fundamental role in shaping microbial ecosystems. While extensively studied on Earth, their behavior in microgravity remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the dynamics between T7 bacteriophage and Escherichia coli in microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Phage activity was initially delayed in microgravity but ultimately successful. We identified de novo mutations in both phage and bacteria that enhanced fitness in microgravity. Deep mutational scanning of the phage receptor binding domain revealed striking differences in the number, position, and mutational preferences between terrestrial and microgravity conditions, reflecting underlying differences in bacterial adaptation. Combinatorial libraries informed by microgravity selections yielded T7 variants capable of productively infecting uropathogenic E. coli resistant to wild-type T7 under terrestrial conditions. These findings help lay the foundation for future research on the impact of microgravity on phage-host interactions and microbial communities and the terrestrial benefits of this research.
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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.