A new paper co-authored by Akash Arani (co-first author) and Prof. Joshua Weitz has been published in The ISME Journal. The study, titled “Episomal virus maintenance enables bacterial population recovery from infection and promotes virus–bacterial coexistence,” combines experimental and mathematical analyses to examine coexistence between Salinibacter ruber, a hypersaline bacterium, and its virus EM1. 

In collaboration with researchers at the University of Alicante, the study explores how viruses can persist episomally, remaining within bacterial hosts without integrating into the host genome, in a phenomenon known as pseudolysogeny.

This episomal maintenance allows bacterial populations to recover following infection, enabling coexistence between a virus once thought to be strictly lytic and its host.  The findings highlight the ecological importance of considering a broader spectrum of viral infection strategies beyond the traditional binary of lysis or lysogeny.