Research report 2021 - Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
A model virus-host system for chronic infections in prokaryotes: Viruses as symbionts?
Authors
Erdmann, Susanne; Alarcon Schumacher, Tomas
Departments
Max Planck Forschungsgruppe Archaea Virologie
Summary
Viruses are an integral and essential part of nature and perform important functions for their hosts and in our ecosystems. We have established a new prokaryotic virus-host model system in which the virus does not kill its host, but causes a long-term chronic infection. Chronic infections are well-known in eukaryotes, but only rarely discovered and poorly understood in prokaryotes. Our model system allows to study a chronic infection in a prokaryotic host in detail and to understand its implications for the host.