According to Evolution of T4-related phages, there have been multiple instances of evolution in the T4 coliphages. Per the article, there are many T-even phages that have insertions from other coliphages. Per Oechslin's paper, different bacteriophages have different effects with different strains of E. Coli. Has there been evidence that there has been coevolution in E. Coli strains with the T4 bacteriophage? I have found a paper on the coevolution of E. Coli and PP01 at Coevolution of bacteriophage PP01 and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in continuous culture. Still, I have not found any information regarding T4 coliphages and their coevolution with E. Coli.
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High-level answer: Yes. Almost by definition there might have to be coevolution between a phage and a host, in the same way that humans coevolve with our viruses (in the form of e.g. immune repertoire). Pathogens kill/disadvantage susceptible hosts, imposing a selective cost to susceptibility.
Detailed answer: Yes. E. coli has CRISPR arrays that target T4, and T4 has mechanisms for escaping CRISPR processing by E. coli. This is pretty textbook coevolutionary arms race. This is reflected somewhat in the different host ranges of phage, as you suggest.
answered Dec 13, 2022 at 20:16