Phageome Explained

A phageome is a community of bacteriophages and their metagenomes localized in a particular environment, similar to a microbiome.^{[1] [2]} The term was first used in an article by Modi et al in 2013^[3] and has continued to be used in scientific articles that relate to bacteriophages and their metagenomes. A bacteriophage, or phage for short, is a virus that has the ability to infect bacteria and archaea, and can replicate inside of them. Phageome is a subcategory of virome, which is all of the viruses that are associated with a host or environment.^[4] Phages make up the majority of most viromes and are currently understood as being the most abundant organism.^[5] Oftentimes scientists will look only at a phageome instead of a virome while conducting research.

In humans

See also: Human virome.

Although bacteriophages do not have the capability to infect human cells, they are found in abundance in the human virome.^[6]

The human gut phageome has recently become a topic of interest in the scientific community. The makeup of the gut phageome can be responsible for different gut related diseases such as IBD. The composition of phages that make up a healthy human gut phageome is currently debated, since different methods of research can lead to different results.^[7]

See also

• Virosphere

References

1. Ma Y, You X, Mai G, Tokuyasu T, Liu C . A human gut phage catalog correlates the gut phageome with type 2 diabetes . Microbiome . 6 . 1 . 24 . February 2018 . 29391057 . 5796561 . 10.1186/s40168-018-0410-y . free .
2. Townsend EM, Kelly L, Muscatt G, Box JD, Hargraves N, Lilley D, Jameson E . The Human Gut Phageome: Origins and Roles in the Human Gut Microbiome . Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology . 11 . 643214 . 2021-06-04 . 34150671 . 8213399 . 10.3389/fcimb.2021.643214 . free .
3. Modi SR, Lee HH, Spina CS, Collins JJ . Antibiotic treatment expands the resistance reservoir and ecological network of the phage metagenome . Nature . 499 . 7457 . 219–222 . July 2013 . 23748443 . 10.1038/nature12212 . 3710538 . 2013Natur.499..219M .
4. Virgin HW . The virome in mammalian physiology and disease . Cell . 157 . 1 . 142–150 . March 2014 . 24679532 . 3977141 . 10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.032 .
5. Keen EC . A century of phage research: bacteriophages and the shaping of modern biology . BioEssays . 37 . 1 . 6–9 . January 2015 . 25521633 . 4418462 . 10.1002/bies.201400152 .
6. Górska A, Peter S, Willmann M, Autenrieth I, Schlaberg R, Huson DH . Dynamics of the human gut phageome during antibiotic treatment . Computational Biology and Chemistry . 74 . 420–427 . June 2018 . 29567068 . 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2018.03.011 . 4222429 .
7. Shkoporov AN, Ryan FJ, Draper LA, Forde A, Stockdale SR, Daly KM, McDonnell SA, Nolan JA, Sutton TD, Dalmasso M, McCann A, Ross RP, Hill C . 6 . Reproducible protocols for metagenomic analysis of human faecal phageomes . Microbiome . 6 . 1 . 68 . April 2018 . 29631623 . 5892011 . 10.1186/s40168-018-0446-z . free .