Bacteriophage Ecology Group

Bacteriophage Ecology Group Bacteriophage Ecology Group

Bred Phage

A phage that has been subject to selection such as for modification in host range.

Note the complementarity between bacteriophage-insensitive mutants (bacteria; a.k.a., BIMs) and bred phages if breeding results in alteration in phage host range. That is, BIMs are phage-escape mutants whereas phages can be bred to overcome this resistance.

Breeding of phages is essentially equivalent to experimental adaptation of phages to particular conditions or hosts. This is a process that phagologists have been subjecting phages to almost since the discovery of phages, whether as a means of increasing phage virulence or related efforts to modify phage host range. It can involve serial passage of phages and another example of this process is the selection for phages that resist elimination from blood as mediated by the mouse reticuloendothelial system (a.k.a., mononuclear phagocyte system).

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