A specific dissolved molecule or ion that is required for phage attachment to bacteria.
Adsorption cofactors typically consist of divalent or monovalent cations but can also be organic compounds. They can serve phages as a means of environmental sensing, e.g., such that adsorption can occur in some locations but not others and also in at least certain cases their requirement for adsorption can be lost via phage mutation.
Adsorption cofactors can be relevant to a phage's ecology and also, in some instances, relevant to phage use such as in phage therapy.
For further consideration of adsorption cofactors as well as references, see Hyman and Abedon (2009).
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