What’s for dinner? Different Carbon Compounds Influence Host Metabolism in a Model Roseobacter-Roseophage System

Viruses that infect bacteria (temperate phages) engage in complex interactions with their hosts. These phages can have two life cycles: lytic and lysogenic. For the latter, the phage can integrate its genome into that of its host and harmlessly replicate alongside with it. Conversely, upon induction, these integrated viruses can excise from their host genome and initiate the lytic cycle. A current paradigm is that phage induction is in response to host cell stress. However, in the absence of stressors, a low level of induction in a population occurs. This poorly understood phenomenon is referred to as spontaneous prophage induction (SPI). This project aims to better understand the metabolic response of two bacteria-phage systems. Our lab has isolated a bacterial strain with an integrated phage, termed CB-D. We have generated a derivative strain, CB-A, that shares 85.65% sequence identity with that of CB-D. These two strains show differences in SPI. Our objective is to quantify differences in cellular metabolite and lipid composition between the strains, during growth on glutamate. These data identify significant variations that provide insight into bacteria-virus interactions.