Inoviridae prophage and bacterial host dynamics during diversification, succession, and Atlantic invasion of Pacific-native Vibrio parahaemolyticus .

phage resolved ambiguities of diversification dynamics which preceded successful Atlantic invasion by the epidemiologically predominant ST36 lineage. It has been established experimentally that filamentous phage can limit host recombination, but here, we show that phage loss is linked to rapid bacterial host diversification during epidemic spread in natural ecosystems alluding to a potential role for ubiquitous inoviruses in the adaptability of pathogens. This work paves the way for functional analyses to define the contribution of inoviruses in the evolutionary dynamics of environmentally transmitted pathogens.