Bacteroides spp are prominent members of human microbiomes as well as important opportunistic pathogens beyond the gut environment. They play a number of roles, such as providing sugars and short-chained fatty acids to the host, recycling bile acids and helping in the development of the host’s immune system. Species of this genus also harbor many ill-understood genetic, mobilizable and conjugable elements, which act as reservoirs and contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance genes. We hope to better understand the transcription stages of a Bacteroides bacteriophage by comparing its expression at different stages of a growing bacterial culture.
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