PhageTAILor leverages machine learning for phage tail-like elements detection and classification in plant-associated bacteria
Heejung Cho, Socheata Hour, Simon Roux, Clément Coclet, Oluwamayowa Amusat, Vivek K. Mutalik, Alexey E. Kazakov, Asaf Levy, Nimrod Nachmias, Lorenzo Aureli, Tyrome Sweet, Axel Visel, Ruben Michael Ceballos, Jonelle T. R. Basso
PhageTAILor uses LightGBM on 74 detector features to flag prophages and bacterial phage tail-like elements (tailocins, T6SS, eCIS), recovering 12 of 13 validated tailocins under leave-one-genus-out.
bioRxiv · Sep 1, 2026 · PreprintMicrobiology✦ In-depth digest