TY - JOUR TI - Whole genome comparison of a large collection of mycobacteriophages reveals a continuum of phage genetic diversity AU - Pope, Welkin H AU - Bowman, Charles A AU - Russell, Daniel A AU - Jacobs-Sera, Deborah AU - Asai, David J AU - Cresawn, Steven G AU - Jacobs, William R, Jr AU - Hendrix, Roger W AU - Lawrence, Jeffrey G AU - Hatfull, Graham F AU - Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science AU - Phage Hunters Integrating Research and Education AU - Mycobacterial Genetics Course A2 - Kolter, Roberto VL - 4 PY - 2015 DA - 2015/04/28 SP - e06416 C1 - eLife 2015;4:e06416 DO - 10.7554/eLife.06416 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.06416 AB - The bacteriophage population is large, dynamic, ancient, and genetically diverse. Limited genomic information shows that phage genomes are mosaic, and the genetic architecture of phage populations remains ill-defined. To understand the population structure of phages infecting a single host strain, we isolated, sequenced, and compared 627 phages of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Their genetic diversity is considerable, and there are 28 distinct genomic types (clusters) with related nucleotide sequences. However, amino acid sequence comparisons show pervasive genomic mosaicism, and quantification of inter-cluster and intra-cluster relatedness reveals a continuum of genetic diversity, albeit with uneven representation of different phages. Furthermore, rarefaction analysis shows that the mycobacteriophage population is not closed, and there is a constant influx of genes from other sources. Phage isolation and analysis was performed by a large consortium of academic institutions, illustrating the substantial benefits of a disseminated, structured program involving large numbers of freshman undergraduates in scientific discovery. KW - bacteriophage KW - genomic KW - evolution JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -