The impact of phage on the animal gut microbiome

Bacteriophage can dramatically shape microbial community composition, redistribute nutrients via host lysis and drive evolution through lateral gene transfer. Despite their importance, relatively little is known about phage in the human or animal gut. Our recent results of human gut microbiomes report bacteriophage with genomes of >200 kbp, the largest reported in the human gut. Three genomes are ~541 kbp in length, close to the maximum size ever reported for phage. Identification of this megaphage in pigs and wild gorillas has prompted this study to determine the impact of this phage on the bacterial and in turn animal host.