TY - JOUR AB - Lysogenic induction ends the stable association between a bacteriophage and its host, andthe transition to the lytic cycle begins with early prophage excision followed by DNA replication and packaging (ERP). This temporal program is considered universal for P22-liketemperate phages, though there is no direct evidence to support the timing and sequence ofthese events. Here we report that the long-standing ERP program is an observation of theexperimentally favored Salmonella phage P22 tsc229 heat-inducible mutant, and that wildtype P22 actually follows the replication-packaging-excision (RPE) program. We find that P22tsc229 excises early after induction, but P22 delays excision to just before it is detrimental tophage production. This allows P22 to engage in lateral transduction. Thus, at minimalexpense to itself, P22 has tuned the timing of excision to balance propagation with lateraltransduction, powering the evolution of its host through gene transfer in the interest of selfpreservation. AU - Fillol-Salom,A AU - Bacigalupe,R AU - Humphrey,S AU - Chiang,YN AU - Chen,J AU - Penades,J DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-26520-4 EP - 11 PY - 2021/// SN - 2041-1723 SP - 1 TI - Lateral transduction is inherent to the life cycle of the archetypical Salmonella phage P22 T2 - Nature Communications UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26520-4 UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26520-4 UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/92559 VL - 12 ER -