PubMed · 2026-05-26
Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) play a surprisingly powerful role in shaping the microbial communities living around plant roots and leaves — communities that help plants absorb nutrients, survive drought, and fight disease. Understanding how phages regulate these microbial networks could lead to better ways to protect crops and gardens without chemicals.
Bacteriophages shape plant-associated microbiomes through multiple mechanisms including transduction, lysogenic conversion, and evolutionary pressure on bacterial hosts.
Kill-the-Winner dynamics — where phages preferentially attack whichever bacterial species becomes dominant — help maintain microbial diversity across entire communities, not just individual interactions.
Maintaining microbial diversity via phage activity appears to support plant growth, suggesting phages are functionally important to plant health outcomes, not merely passive bystanders.