Mycobacteriophage
![Figure 1. Diversity of mycobacteriophages. Sequenced genomes for 471 mycobacteriophages were compared according to their shared gene contents and overall nucleotide sequence similarity. Colored circles encompass Clusters A–T as indicated, and grey circles represent singleton genomes that have no close relatives. A1, A2, A3... indicate subclusters. Micrographs show the morphotypes of the myoviral Cluster C phages and the siphoviruses (all others) that primarily differ in tail length (scale bars: 100 nm). With the exception of DS6A, all phages infect M. smegmatis mc2155. From Hatfull 2014[8]](/Images/godic/202501/28/Diversity_of_mycobacteriophages0033.png")
A mycobacteriophage is a member of a group of bacteriophages known to have mycobacteria as host bacterial species. While originally isolated from the bacterial species Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, more than 4,200 mycobacteriophage have since been isolated from various environmental and clinical sources. Almost 600 have been completely sequenced. Mycobacteriophages have served as examples of viral lysogeny and of the divergent morphology and genetic arrangement characteristic of many phage types.