Cytoskeletal proteins participate in conserved viral strategies across kingdoms of life

•Some bacterial and eukaryotic viruses share common pathways for viral development.•A diverse group of phages encode tubulin-homologs.•The tubulin PhuZ positions phage 201ϕ2-1 DNA in the center of the cell and optimizes phage reproduction during lytic growth.•201ϕ2-1 is the first example of a bacteriophage building a viral factory akin to those seen in gammaherpesvirus infected cells.

The discovery of tubulin-like cytoskeletal proteins carried on the genomes of bacteriophages that are actively used for phage propagation during both the lytic and lysogenic cycle have revealed that there at least two ways that viruses can utilize a cytoskeleton; co-opt the host cytoskeleton or bring their own homologues. Either strategy underscores the deep evolutionary relationship between viruses and cytoskeletal proteins and points to a conservation of viral strategies that crosses the kingdoms of life. Here we review some of the most recent discoveries about tubulin cytoskeletal elements encoded by phages and compare them to some of the strategies utilized by the gammaherpesvirues of mammalian cells.