Researchers just discovered that a form of bacteriophage can
communicate with other bacteriophages. The virus is called phi3T. It has two
different ways that it can infect a host—either it enters and begins
replication immediately until the cell is burst and dies, or it can inject
genetic material into the host’s genome and stay dormant until conditions are
more optimal.
Insanely, the phi3T bacteriophage has a mechanism to alert
other phages as to which route of infection they should follow. It codes for a
short protein that has been named arbitrium, this protein leaks out of bacteria
after infection and cell death. When high amounts of arbitrium are present in
the environment, phi3T has two proteins that identify arbitrium and change the
course of its replication cycle. Instead
of immediately replicating and causing bacteria death, it opts for the second
option and lies dormant. It seems that this virus has developed a clever way to
evade total host die-out. Although this is the first of its type, researchers
believe it’s likely that other viruses have chemical messages that allow them
to communicate to one another. Let’s just hope none of them are conspiring
against us…
Source:
Elisa Hofmeister
Humans and Viruses 16-17
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