Phage-plasmids are mobile genetic elements that transfer horizontally between bacterial cells as viruses, and vertically within bacterial lineages as plasmids. Here, Pfeifer & Rocha show that phage-plasmids can mediate gene transfer across mobile elements within their hosts, and can act as intermediates in the conversion of one type of element into another.
- Eugen Pfeifer
- Eduardo P. C. Rocha
