The effect of inhibition of host MreB on the infection of thermophilic phage GVE2 in high temperature environment

Subcellular organization of viral particles during maturation of nucleus-forming jumbo phage

Many eukaryotic viruses assemble mature particles within distinct subcellular compartments, but bacteriophages are generally assumed to assemble randomly throughout the host cell cytoplasm. Here, we show that viral particles of Pseudomonas nucleus-forming jumbo phage PhiPA3 assemble into a unique structure inside cells we term phage bouquets. We show that after capsids complete DNA packaging at the surface of the phage nucleus, tails assemble and attach to capsids, and these particles accumulate over time in a spherical pattern, with tails oriented inward and the heads outward to form bouquets at specific subcellular locations. Bouquets localize at the same fixed distance from the phage nucleus even when it is mispositioned, suggesting an active mechanism for positioning. These results mark the discovery of a pathway for organizing mature viral particles inside bacteria and demonstrate that nucleus-forming jumbo phages, like most eukaryotic viruses, are highly spatially organized during all stages of their lytic cycle.

Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Viruses Compensate for Microbial Metabolism in Virus-Host Interactions

Viruses are believed to be responsible for the mortality of host organisms. However, some recent investigations reveal that viruses may be essential for host survival. To date, it remains unclear whether viruses are beneficial or harmful to their hosts. To reveal the roles of viruses in the virus-host interactions, viromes and microbiomes of sediment samples from three deep-sea hydrothermal vents were explored in this study. To exclude the influence of exogenous DNAs on viromes, the virus particles were purified with nuclease (DNase I and RNase A) treatments and cesium chloride density gradient centrifugation. The metagenomic analysis of viromes without exogenous DNA contamination and microbiomes of vent samples indicated that viruses had compensation effects on the metabolisms of their host microorganisms. Viral genes not only participated in most of the microbial metabolic pathways but also formed branched pathways in microbial metabolisms, including pyrimidine metabolism; alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism; nitrogen metabolism and assimilation pathways of the two-component system; selenocompound metabolism; aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis; and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. As is well known, deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems exist in relatively isolated environments which are barely influenced by other ecosystems. The metabolic compensation of hosts mediated by viruses might represent a very important aspect of virus-host interactions.

Viruses are the most abundant biological entities in the oceans and have very important roles in regulating microbial community structure and biogeochemical cycles. The relationship between virus and host microbes is broadly thought to be that of predator and prey. Viruses can lyse host cells to control microbial population sizes and affect community structures of hosts by killing specific microbes. However, viruses also influence their hosts through manipulation of bacterial metabolism. We found that viral genes not only participated in most microbial metabolic pathways but also formed branched pathways in microbial metabolisms. The metabolic compensation of hosts mediated by viruses may help hosts to adapt to extreme environments and may be essential for host survival.

The effects of a thermophile metabolite, tryptophol, upon protecting shrimp against white spot syndrome virus

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a shrimp pathogen responsible for significant economic loss in commercial shrimp farms and until now, there has been no effective approach to control this disease. In this study, tryptophol (indole-3-ethanol) was identified as a metabolite involved in bacteriophage-thermophile interactions. The dietary addition of tryptophol reduced the mortality in shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus when orally challenged with WSSV. Our results revealed that 50 mg/kg tryptophol has a better protective effect in shrimp than 10 or 100 mg/kg tryptophol. WSSV copies in shrimp were reduced significantly (P < 0.01) when supplemented with 50 mg/kg tryptophol, indicating that virus replication was inhibited by tryptophol. Consequently, tryptophol represents an effective antiviral dietary supplement for shrimp, and thus holds significant promise as a novel and efficient therapeutic approach to control WSSV in shrimp aquaculture.

Natural transformation occurs independently of the essential actin-like MreB cytoskeleton in Legionella pneumophila

Natural transformation is the process by which bacteria can actively take up and integrate exogenous DNA thereby providing a source of genetic diversity. Under specific growth conditions the coordinated expression of several genes – a situation referred to as “competence” – allows bacteria to assemble a highly processive and dedicated system that can import high molecular weight DNA. Within the cell these large imported DNA molecules are protected from degradation and brought to the chromosome for recombination. Here, we report elevated expression of mreB during competence in the Gram-negative pathogen Legionella pneumophila. Interestingly a similar observation had previously been reported in the distantly-related Gram-positive organism Bacillus subtilis. MreB is often viewed as the bacterial actin homolog contributing to bacterial morphogenesis by coordinating peptidoglycan-synthesising complexes. In addition MreB is increasingly found to be involved in a growing number of processes including chromosome segregation and motor-driven motility. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we examined the possible role of MreB during natural transformation in L. pneumophila. Our data show that natural transformation does not require MreB dynamics and exclude a direct role of MreB filaments in the transport of foreign DNA and its recombination in the chromosome.

Identification and characterization of a novel Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius bacteriophage, GVE3

The study of extremophilic phages may reveal new phage families as well as different mechanisms of infection, propagation and lysis to those found in phages from temperate environments. We describe a novel siphovirus, GVE3, which infects the thermophile Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius. The genome size is 141,298 bp (G+C 29.6%), making it the largest Geobacillus spp-infecting phage known. GVE3 appears to be most closely related to the recently described Bacillus anthracis phage vB_BanS_Tsamsa, rather than Geobacillus-infecting phages described thus far. Tetranucleotide usage deviation analysis supports this relationship, showing that the GVE3 genome sequence correlates best with B. anthracis and Bacillus cereus genome sequences, rather than Geobacillus spp genome sequences.

The effect of tryptophol on the bacteriophage infection in high-temperature environment

Small metabolites can participate in the virus-host interactions in eukaryotes. However, little is known about roles of metabolites in the interactions between bacteria and bacteriophages. In this study, the metabolomic profilings of bacteriophage GVE2-infected and virus-free Geobacillus sp. E263, a thermophilic bacterium isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, were characterized. The results showed that metabolites tryptophol, adenine, and hydroxybenzylalcohol were significantly elevated in Geobacillus sp. E263 in response to the GVE2 infection. Furthermore, our data indicated that tryptophol was involved in the bacteriophage infection. Tryptophol could inhibit the infection/replication of GVE2 by interacting with the host's Clp protease. Therefore, our study revealed novel aspects of metabolites during the bacteriophage infection in high-temperature environment.