Isolation and characterization of diverse Veillonella phages reveal novel lineages and distinct host interactions

Ten phages infecting natural isolates of three Veillonella species were isolated, yielding seven distinct phage genomes with infection restricted to strains within each species.

• Why it matters: Phages shape oral microbial diversity, yet Veillonella-infecting phages are largely unknown despite Veillonella’s roles in healthy colonization and periodontal or caries-associated biofilms.
• What they did: The team isolated ten phages from natural Veillonella isolates, characterized morphologies, genome organization, host ranges, lysogeny stability, superinfection resistance, and spontaneous progeny production, and mapped one receptor via resistant mutants.
• The result: Several phages formed stable lysogeny and blocked superinfection, phage progeny production varied substantially, and lipopolysaccharide O-antigen was implicated as a receptor for one phage; related sequences appeared in oral metagenomes from geographically diverse populations.

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