Dataset of phage genes in Escherichia coli K-12

Phages engage in an evolutionary dance with bacteria and archaea, and play a role in regulating their numbers. Given that bacteriophage could enter the lysogeny cycle during unfavourable circumstances, it comes as not a surprise that genome of bacterial species harbour phage genes. Although such genes may not remain intact due to evolutionary pressure on them or the action of transposon, they nevertheless represent a chronicle of the types of phages that have infected a bacterial species. With this perspective in mind, this work sought to categorize the different types of bacteriophages that have infected <i>Escherichia coli</i> K-12, and integrated their genome into the bacterial genome through lysogeny. Profiling the annotated genome of <i>E. coli</i> K-12 revealed the presence of 10 prophages, each with their complement of phage genes. Many of the phages are likely deactivated given the large number of phage genes that have been transposed through the action of insertion element or transposon. Hence, these defective prophages in <i>E. coli</i> K-12 represents a treasure trove of information for understanding the action of transposon on genome maintenance, and their role in guiding the evolution of the bacterial species. Each set of genes belonging to a prophage has been categorized to different bins depending on their function in DNA replication, transcription, and structural function. But, persistently, a large set of genes have to be categorized as miscellaneous, and these predominantly include phage genes whose identities have been swapped with those of structural genes in the host genome. Collectively, this dataset of phage genes in <i>Escherichia coli</i> should serve as a useful starting point for further studies seeking to understand the role of bacteriophages in shaping the evolution of this model organism. <b><i></i></b>