TY - JOUR

T1 - Interactions between the Prophage 919TP and Its Vibrio cholerae Host

T2 - Implications of gmd Mutation for Phage Resistance, Cell Auto-Aggregation, and Motility

AU - Li, Na

AU - Zeng, Yigang

AU - Hu, Bijie

AU - Zhu, Tongyu

AU - Svenningsen, Sine Lo

AU - Middelboe, Mathias

AU - Tan, Demeng

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Prophage 919TP is widely distributed among Vibrio cholera and is induced to produce free ϕ919TP phage particles. However, the interactions between prophage ϕ919TP, the induced phage particle, and its host remain unknown. In particular, phage resistance mechanisms and potential fitness trade-offs, resulting from phage resistance, are unresolved. In this study, we examined a prophage 919TP-deleted variant of V. cholerae and its interaction with a modified lytic variant of the induced prophage (ϕ919TP cI- ). Specifically, the phage-resistant mutant was isolated by challenging a prophage-deleted variant with lytic phage ϕ919TP cI- . Further, the comparative genomic analysis of wild-type and ϕ919TP cI--resistant mutant predicted that phage ϕ919TP cI- selects for phage-resistant mutants harboring a mutation in key steps of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen biosynthesis, causing a single-base-pair deletion in gene gmd. Our study showed that the gmd-mediated O-antigen defect can cause pleiotropic phenotypes, e.g., cell autoaggregation and reduced swarming motility, emphasizing the role of phage-driven diversification in V. cholerae. The developed approach assists in the identification of genetic determinants of host specificity and is used to explore the molecular mechanism underlying phage-host interactions. Our findings contribute to the understanding of prophage-facilitated horizontal gene transfer and emphasize the potential for developing new strategies to optimize the use of phages in bacterial pathogen control.

AB - Prophage 919TP is widely distributed among Vibrio cholera and is induced to produce free ϕ919TP phage particles. However, the interactions between prophage ϕ919TP, the induced phage particle, and its host remain unknown. In particular, phage resistance mechanisms and potential fitness trade-offs, resulting from phage resistance, are unresolved. In this study, we examined a prophage 919TP-deleted variant of V. cholerae and its interaction with a modified lytic variant of the induced prophage (ϕ919TP cI- ). Specifically, the phage-resistant mutant was isolated by challenging a prophage-deleted variant with lytic phage ϕ919TP cI- . Further, the comparative genomic analysis of wild-type and ϕ919TP cI--resistant mutant predicted that phage ϕ919TP cI- selects for phage-resistant mutants harboring a mutation in key steps of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O-antigen biosynthesis, causing a single-base-pair deletion in gene gmd. Our study showed that the gmd-mediated O-antigen defect can cause pleiotropic phenotypes, e.g., cell autoaggregation and reduced swarming motility, emphasizing the role of phage-driven diversification in V. cholerae. The developed approach assists in the identification of genetic determinants of host specificity and is used to explore the molecular mechanism underlying phage-host interactions. Our findings contribute to the understanding of prophage-facilitated horizontal gene transfer and emphasize the potential for developing new strategies to optimize the use of phages in bacterial pathogen control.

KW - O-antigen

KW - Phage receptor

KW - Phage-host interactions

KW - Prophage

KW - Vibrio cholerae

U2 - 10.3390/v13122342

DO - 10.3390/v13122342

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34960610

AN - SCOPUS:85120035083

VL - 13

JO - Viruses

JF - Viruses

SN - 1999-4915

IS - 12

M1 - 2342

ER -