The Importance of Prophage in the Persistence of Commensal Bacteria within Human Oral Cavity

Xoesong Hee

Abstract

The next-generation sequencing technology has revealed the staggering abundance and diversity of bacteriophage (phage) within human-associated microbiome [1,2]. Phages, both lytic and temperate, have been considered an integral part of human microbiome and their role in affecting bacterial physiology, modulating oral microbial communities have been suspected based on our understanding of phage-bacterial interaction in environmental microbial community. However, the empirical data on the bacteria-phage interaction and physiological and ecological role of phages in human microbiome, particularly oral microbiome, are lacking due to the limited number of phages that have been successfully isolated and characterized.