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Nature volume 549, pages E3–E4 (2017)Cite this article

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REPLYING TO J. S. Weitz, S. J. Beckett, J. R. Brum, B. B. Cael & J. Dushoff Nature 549, 10.1038/nature23295 (2017)

Most bacteria are lysogens1,2,3,4. However, lysogeny has languished in viral ecology as research has gravitated towards lytic-centric paradigms5,6. The Piggyback-the-Winner (PtW)7 hypothesis challenges this trajectory by using a combination of direct counts, literature meta-analyses, experimentation, models and metagenomics analyses. In the accompanying Comment, Weitz et al.8 focus on theoretical models and statistical aspects of metagenomic analyses. However, in our view their examination does not encompass or explain the diverse lines of empirical evidence supporting the PtW model, a hitherto unconsidered high-density temperate dynamic that remains the most parsimonious and falsifiable interpretation of the full suite of evidence that we reported7.

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  1. Department of Biology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, 92182, California, USA

    Ben Knowles & Forest Rohwer

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Knowles, B., Rohwer, F. Knowles & Rohwer reply. Nature 549, E3–E4 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23296

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