A large-scale study of phiLM21-like prophages of nodule bacteria.

The staff of the Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding of Microorganisms of the Federal State Budgetary Budgetary Institution ARRIAM, led by Rumyantseva M.L., published in the highly rated journal, the International Journal of Molecular Sciences the results of a large-scale study of phiLM21-like prophages of nodule bacteria. A study of prophages that are site-specifically integrated into tRNA genes has shown that up to 65% of their metavirus encodes hypothetical proteins, "genetic dark matter." The analysis of open reading frames (OPFS) of different origins, as well as the distribution of OPFS with predicted and unknown functions, is clearly presented in the article. Deciphering this complex genetic information is of fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of bacterial-phage interactions and opens up new perspectives for the use of phages in bioengineering.

The research was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation within the framework of agreement No. 075-15-2025-472 dated May 29, 2025 on the provision of a grant in the form of a subsidy from the federal budget for the implementation of the project: "Expansion of the fund and development of genomic research in the collection of microorganisms Network Bioresource Collection in the field of genetic technologies for agriculture (VKSM)".

Vladimirova M.E., Romantseva M.L., Saksaganskaya A.S., Kozlova A.P., Muntyan V.S., Gaponov S.P. Parietal mathematics, transferable program, exploits of Sinorhizobium meliloti phiLM21. Publication date: September 6, 2025,26(17):8704. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26178704 . PMID: 40943619; PMCID: PMC12429752.