The never-ending battle between lactic acid bacteria and their phages

Over the past few decades, the interest in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has been steadily growing. This is mainly due to their industrial use, their health benefits as probiotic bacteria and their ecological importance in host-related microbiota. Phage infection represents a significant risk for the production and industrial use of LAB. This created the need to study the various means of defense put in place by LAB to resist their viral enemies, as well as the countermeasures evolved by phages to overcome these defenses. In this review, we discuss defense systems that LAB employ to resist phage infections. We also describe how phages counter these mechanisms through diverse and sophisticated strategies. Furthermore, we discuss the way phage-host interactions shape each other's evolution. The recent discovery of numerous novel defense systems in other bacteria promises a new dawn for phage research in LAB. Phage-LAB interactions.

Automated summary

Over the past few decades, there has been a growing interest in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) due to their industrial use, health benefits, and ecological importance. However, phage infection poses a significant risk to LAB production and use. This review discusses the defense systems employed by LAB against phage infections and the strategies used by phages to overcome these defenses. It also explores the impact of phage-host interactions on their evolution and highlights the potential of novel defense systems discovered in other bacteria for phage research in LAB.