ArticleEngineering microbiology2026
When phage restriction is not immunity: Immune gates, replication-niche barriers, and assay-limited phenotypes.
Article in Engineering microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Abstract
Antiphage discovery increasingly yields restrictive phenotypes before mechanisms are known. This Perspective argues that reduced plaque formation or low efficiency of plating should be classified phenotype-first, not automatically as immunity. I distinguish immune-gated defenses, replication-niche barriers, and assay-limited phenotypes, and propose a decision-tree workflow using native context, matched physiology, infection-stage readouts, triggers, and phage-mediated rescue. Clearer labels should broadly improve annotation, counter-defense interpretation, and phage-host engineering for therapy, biocontrol, and biotechnology in complex microbial settings.
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