In this episode, we speak with Prof. Jeremy Barr, Professor at Monash University, about his work on bacteriophages in the human gut and the ecological and functional roles of temperate phages within the microbiome.

We discuss his recent study Isolation, engineering and ecology of temperate phages from the human gut, focusing on prophages in gut bacteria and how frequently they may enter the lytic cycle.

We cover the experimental approaches used to isolate and characterize temperate phages from gut bacteria, including induction, bacterial and human cells. We speak about environmental factors that may influence prophage induction, including dietary compounds, and how epithelial perturbation during inflammation can shape gut virome dynamics.

We then explore evolutionary and genomic aspects of gut temperate phages, including the presence of prophages lacking integrases, the role of diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs), and possible evolutionary trajectories toward prophage domestication. We also discuss polylysogeny and whether temperate phages may serve as stable platforms for gene delivery in microbiome-associated contexts.

Finally, Jeremy shares reflections on the process of publishing the study in Nature, including how the manuscript evolved during peer review, and lessons learned during the revision process.

Do not forget that Viruses of Microbes is still accepting inscriptions and will take place in Prague from 6-10 July 2026.