Telomere bacteriophages are widespread and equip their bacterial hosts with potent interbacterial weapons.

Byers, SMH; Rocker, A; Nguyen, TNT; Rosas, NC; Taiaroa, G; Tan, KS; Li, Y; Wilksch, JJ; Steele, JR; Schittenhelm, RB; Dunstan, RA; Short, FL; Lithgow, T

Telomere bacteriophages are widespread and equip their bacterial hosts with potent interbacterial weapons.

Byers, SMH Rocker, A Nguyen, TNT Rosas, NC Taiaroa, G Tan, KS Li, Y Wilksch, JJ Steele, JR Schittenhelm, RB Dunstan, RA Short, FL Lithgow, T

Permalink

Publisher:: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Sci Adv, 2025, 11, (18), pp. eadt1627
Issue Date:: 2025-05-02

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Published versionAdobe PDF (8.15 MB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Byers, SMH
dc.contributor.author	Rocker, A
dc.contributor.author	Nguyen, TNT
dc.contributor.author	Rosas, NC
dc.contributor.author	Taiaroa, G
dc.contributor.author	Tan, KS
dc.contributor.author	Li, Y
dc.contributor.author	Wilksch, JJ
dc.contributor.author	Steele, JR
dc.contributor.author	Schittenhelm, RB
dc.contributor.author	Dunstan, RA
dc.contributor.author	Short, FL
dc.contributor.author	Lithgow, T
dc.date.accessioned	2026-02-03T01:17:45Z
dc.date.available	2026-02-03T01:17:45Z
dc.date.issued	2025-05-02
dc.identifier.citation	Sci Adv, 2025, 11, (18), pp. eadt1627
dc.identifier.issn	2375-2548
dc.identifier.issn	2375-2548
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/192701
dc.description.abstract	Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that can kill bacteria, thereby editing and shaping microbial communities. The telomere phages are a curious form using telomere-like structures to replicate their genomes as linear extrachromosomal elements. Here, we find that telomere phages are widely distributed in bacteria, being highly prevalent in Klebsiella species. We establish a model system to investigate telomere phage biology by isolating the virions of telomere phages and infecting naïve strains to create isogenic lines with and without a phage. We find that only a small set of telomere phage proteins is expressed in phage-host cells, including a toxin-the telocin-that kills other Klebsiella strains. We identify and validate a set of telocins in the genomes of other prevalent Klebsiella telomere phages. Thus, telomere phages are widespread elements encoding diverse antibacterial weapons and we discuss the prospect of using telocins for precision editing of microbial populations.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
dc.relation.ispartof	Sci Adv
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1126/sciadv.adt1627
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteriophages
dc.subject.mesh	Telomere
dc.subject.mesh	Klebsiella
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteria
dc.subject.mesh	Genome, Viral
dc.subject.mesh	Telomere
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteria
dc.subject.mesh	Klebsiella
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteriophages
dc.subject.mesh	Genome, Viral
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteriophages
dc.subject.mesh	Telomere
dc.subject.mesh	Klebsiella
dc.subject.mesh	Bacteria
dc.subject.mesh	Genome, Viral
dc.title	Telomere bacteriophages are widespread and equip their bacterial hosts with potent interbacterial weapons.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11
utslib.location.activity	United States
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Provost
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Provost/Jumbunna
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2026-02-03T01:17:41Z
pubs.issue	18
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	11
utslib.citation.issue	18

Abstract:

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that can kill bacteria, thereby editing and shaping microbial communities. The telomere phages are a curious form using telomere-like structures to replicate their genomes as linear extrachromosomal elements. Here, we find that telomere phages are widely distributed in bacteria, being highly prevalent in Klebsiella species. We establish a model system to investigate telomere phage biology by isolating the virions of telomere phages and infecting naïve strains to create isogenic lines with and without a phage. We find that only a small set of telomere phage proteins is expressed in phage-host cells, including a toxin-the telocin-that kills other Klebsiella strains. We identify and validate a set of telocins in the genomes of other prevalent Klebsiella telomere phages. Thus, telomere phages are widespread elements encoding diverse antibacterial weapons and we discuss the prospect of using telocins for precision editing of microbial populations.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/192701