Widespread Transcriptional Impacts of prophage within the rhizobia-legume symbiosis

Prophages – viruses that infect and integrate into bacterial chromosomes - can have important effects for their bacterial hosts. Here, we investigate the impact of carrying a prophage on the nitrogen-fixing symbiont, rhizobia. Rhizobia form symbioses with legumes in the form of root nodules. Their nitrogen-fixing ability has an important role in the transition to sustainable agriculture, potentially reducing the use of inorganic fertilisers. In this study, we show that prophage, vTRX32-1, has different effects on gene expression across two Rhizobium strains while in symbiosis with clover. Yet, phage presence does not affect the performance of the rhizobia-clover symbiosis. These results suggest that despite the potential impacts of prophage carriage on symbiont function, the symbiotic quality of lysogens is not significantly compromised.

噬菌体（prophages）——一类感染并整合至细菌染色体中的病毒，其对细菌宿主可能产生重要影响。在本研究中，我们探讨了携带噬菌体对根瘤菌（rhizobia）这一固氮共生体的影响。根瘤菌与豆科植物形成根瘤共生关系。其固氮能力在可持续农业的转型中扮演着关键角色，有可能减少无机肥料的施用量。研究结果表明，噬菌体vTRX32-1在与三叶草共生的情况下，对两种根瘤菌菌株的基因表达产生了不同的影响。然而，噬菌体的存在并未影响根瘤菌与三叶草的共生性能。这些发现表明，尽管噬菌体携带可能对共生体功能产生潜在影响，但溶原体（lysogens）的共生质量并未受到显著损害。