Transcript map of the temperate Lactobacillus gasseri bacteriophage ϕadh

Spontaneously induced prophages in Lactobacillus gasseri contribute to horizontal gene transfer

Lactobacillus gasseri is an endogenous species of the human gastrointestinal tract and vagina. With recent advances in microbial taxonomy, phylogenetics, and genomics, L. gasseri is recognized as an important commensal and is increasingly being used in probiotic formulations. L. gasseri strain ADH is lysogenic and harbors two inducible prophages. In this study, prophage adh was found to spontaneously induce in broth cultures to populations of ∼ 10(7) PFU/ml by stationary phase. The adh prophage-cured ADH derivative NCK102 was found to harbor a new, second inducible phage, vB_Lga_jlb1 (jlb1). Phage jlb1 was sequenced and found to be highly similar to the closely related phage LgaI, which resides as two tandem prophages in the neotype strain L. gasseri ATCC 33323. The common occurrence of multiple prophages in L. gasseri genomes, their propensity for spontaneous induction, and the high degree of homology among phages within multiple species of Lactobacillus suggest that temperate bacteriophages likely contribute to horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in commensal lactobacilli. In this study, the host ranges of phages adh and jlb1 were determined against 16 L. gasseri strains. The transduction range and the rate of spontaneous transduction were investigated in coculture experiments to ascertain the degree to which prophages can promote HGT among a variety of commensal and probiotic lactobacilli. Both adh and jlb1 particles were confirmed to mediate plasmid transfer. As many as ∼10(3) spontaneous transductants/ml were obtained. HGT by transducing phages of commensal lactobacilli may have a significant impact on the evolution of bacteria within the human microbiota.

Diversity in bacterial lysis systems: bacteriophages show the way

Bacteriophages have developed multiple host cell lysis strategies to promote release of descendant virions from infected bacteria. This review is focused on the lysis mechanisms employed by tailed double-stranded DNA bacteriophages, where new developments have recently emerged. These phages seem to use a least common denominator to induce lysis, the so-called holin-endolysin dyad. Endolysins are cell wall-degrading enzymes whereas holins form 'holes' in the cytoplasmic membrane at a precise scheduled time. The latter function was long viewed as essential to provide a pathway for endolysin escape to the cell wall. However, recent studies have shown that phages can also exploit the host cell secretion machinery to deliver endolysins to their target and subvert the bacterial autolytic arsenal to effectively accomplish lysis. In these systems the membrane-depolarizing holin function still seems to be essential to activate secreted endolysins. New lysis players have also been uncovered that promote degradation of particular bacterial cell envelopes, such as that of mycobacteria.

Global gene expression analysis of two Streptococcus thermophilus bacteriophages using DNA microarray

A custom microarray was developed to study the temporal gene expression of the two groups of phages infecting the Gram-positive lactic acid bacterium Streptococcus thermophilus. The complete genomic sequence of the virulent cos-type phage DT1 (34,815 bp) and the pac-type phage 2972 (34,704 bp) were used for the construction of the microarray. Gene expression was measured at nine time intervals (0, 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32 and 37 min) during phage infection and an expression curve was determined for each gene. Each phage gene was then classified into one of the three traditional transcription classes and these data were used to generate the complete transcriptional map of DT1 and 2972. Phage DT1 possesses 18 early genes, 12 middle genes and 12 late-expressed genes whereas 2972 has 16 early, 11 middle and 14 late genes. The trends of the phage gene expression profiles were also confirmed by slot blot hybridizations. Significant differences were observed when comparing the transcriptional maps of DT1 and 2972 with those already available for the S. thermophilus phages Sfi19 and Sfi21. To our knowledge, this report presents the first complete transcription analysis of bacteriophages infecting Gram-positive bacteria using the DNA microarray technology.