Disruption of bacteriophage integration site promotes rapid diversification of multicellular traits in Bacillus subtilis
Maja Popović, Tomaž Accetto, Yasmine Dergham, Romain Briandet, Iztok Dogša, Anna Dragoš
This study shows that disrupting spsM in Bacillus subtilis via prophage integration or mutagenesis leads to increased spontaneous mutations in regulatory genes, promoting phenotypic diversification, while prophage excision reduces mutational diversity.
Microbiology Spectrum · Apr 20, 2026Peer-reviewedMicrobiology