Sentences with phrase «extrachromosomal phages»

Not only did extrachromosomal phages appear widespread among these strains, but the researchers found evidence that these phages encode genes that can make the bacteria more dangerous.

«So far, no one has looked across a variety of strains of bacteria, as we have done with Staphylococcus aureus, to find these extrachromosomal phages that have potential to play an important role in disease,» says Bryan Utter a postdoc in the lab and the first author of the research published June 25 in PLoS ONE.

Not exact matches

Extrachromosomal DNA can include bacteria - infecting viruses, known as phages, and strands of self - replicating DNA, known as plasmids, often picked up from other bacteria.

For example, when the researchers decoded the complete sequence of one extrachromosomal circular phage from a disease - causing Staphylococcus, they identified a number of genes that may help this strain evade a host's immune system and that could readily spread to other Staphylococcus bacteria.