High-Performance Genome Annotation for a Safer and Faster-Developing Phage Therapy

Phage therapy uses phages to reduce bacterial load in ecosystems, but their impact on ecology is not well understood. To ensure safe phage therapy, an in-depth annotation of therapeutic phage genomes is essential. Currently, the average published phage genome has only 20-30% functionally annotated genes. A study comparing manual and automated phage genome annotation methods found that manual structural annotation is marginally superior to rTOOLS automated structural annotation, and rTOOLS automated functional annotation is superior to manual functional annotation. This allows for time and money savings in the field of phage therapy, enabling safer and faster-developing treatments.