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Feiss M, Young R, Ramsey J, Adhya S, Georgopoulos C, Hendrix RW, Hatfull GF, Gilcrease EB, Casjens SR. Hybrid Vigor: Importance of Hybrid λ Phages in Early Insights in Molecular Biology. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2022; 86:e0012421. [PMID: 36165780 PMCID: PMC9799177 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00124-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Laboratory-generated hybrids between phage λ and related phages played a seminal role in establishment of the λ model system, which, in turn, served to develop many of the foundational concepts of molecular biology, including gene structure and control. Important λ hybrids with phages 21 and 434 were the earliest of such phages. To understand the biology of these hybrids in full detail, we determined the complete genome sequences of phages 21 and 434. Although both genomes are canonical members of the λ-like phage family, they both carry unsuspected bacterial virulence gene types not previously described in this group of phages. In addition, we determined the sequences of the hybrid phages λ imm21, λ imm434, and λ h434 imm21. These sequences show that the replacements of λ DNA by nonhomologous segments of 21 or 434 DNA occurred through homologous recombination in adjacent sequences that are nearly identical in the parental phages. These five genome sequences correct a number of errors in published sequence fragments of the 21 and 434 genomes, and they point out nine nucleotide differences from Sanger's original λ sequence that are likely present in most extant λ strains in laboratory use today. We discuss the historical importance of these hybrid phages in the development of fundamental tenets of molecular biology and in some of the earliest gene cloning vectors. The 434 and 21 genomes reinforce the conclusion that the genomes of essentially all natural λ-like phages are mosaics of sequence modules from a pool of exchangeable segments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Feiss
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Ryland Young
- Center for Phage Technology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Jolene Ramsey
- Center for Phage Technology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Sankar Adhya
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Center for Cancer Research, The National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Costa Georgopoulos
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Roger W. Hendrix
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Graham F. Hatfull
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Eddie B. Gilcrease
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
| | - Sherwood R. Casjens
- Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology Department, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
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Yu X, Xu J, Gu Y, Zhang R, Zhu Y, Liu X. Molecular Characterization and Comparative Genomic Analysis of vB_PaeP_YA3, a Novel Temperate Bacteriophage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:947. [PMID: 32655502 PMCID: PMC7326022 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
It is well known that bacteriophages play crucial roles in many aspects, such as controlling the number and the diversity of bacteria and participating in horizontal gene transfer, which is a key process in the evolution of bacteria. However, so far, the number of temperate bacteriophages is still limited, and their life processes are severely unknown, except for members of the lambdoid family of coliphages. In this study, a novel temperate phage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, YA3 (vB_PaeP_YA3), was isolated from waste water. The morphology of YA3 suggested that it is a Podoviridae. The YA3 genome is a circular double-stranded DNA of 45,253 bp, with an average G + C content of 57.2%. A total of 65 open reading frames (ORFs) were predicted according to the sequence of YA3’s genome, of which only 32 (49.2%) ORFs were assigned with putative functions and 13 ORFs were confirmed by the structural proteome. Genome and proteome analyses confirmed the lysogenic nature of this phage, which encodes the typical lysogen-related proteins integrase, CI, Cro, and Q protein. The genome of YA3 is most closely related with that of temperate phage vB_PaeP_Tr60_Ab31, whereas the homology coverage is just 48%. There are many critical differences between their genomes, involving promoters, lysis pathways, and regulation patterns. YA3 is capable of stably lysogenizing its host P. aeruginosa PA14, targeting the integration site within the serine tRNA gene (PA14_RS20820), which is similar with phage vB_PaeP_Tr60_Ab31. The phylogenetic analysis is more complicated than we thought. Based on phage terminase large subunit (TerL) and CI proteins, phage YA3 is related with phage lambda, while their genome coverage is extremely low (<1%). Therefore, phage YA3 is a considerably novel lambda-like temperate phage, and a further study of its genome may deepen our understanding of the interaction between lysogenic phages and their bacterial hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyan Yu
- Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology of Jiangsu Province, Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology of Jiangsu Province, Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yu Gu
- Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology of Jiangsu Province, Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Ruiyang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology of Jiangsu Province, Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yefei Zhu
- Laboratory Medicine Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xiaoqiu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Pathogen Biology of Jiangsu Province, Department of Microbiology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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Lee H, Lee DG. Arenicin-1-induced apoptosis-like response requires RecA activation and hydrogen peroxide against Escherichia coli. Curr Genet 2018; 65:167-177. [DOI: 10.1007/s00294-018-0855-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 06/05/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Colon MP, Chakraborty D, Pevzner Y, Koudelka GB. Mechanisms that Determine the Differential Stability of Stx⁺ and Stx(-) Lysogens. Toxins (Basel) 2016; 8:96. [PMID: 27043626 PMCID: PMC4848623 DOI: 10.3390/toxins8040096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2016] [Revised: 03/23/2016] [Accepted: 03/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Phages 933W, BAA2326, 434, and λ are evolutionarily-related temperate lambdoid phages that infect Escherichia coli. Although these are highly-similar phages, BAA2326 and 933W naturally encode Shiga toxin 2 (Stx+), but phage 434 and λ do not (Stx−). Previous reports suggest that the 933W Stx+ prophage forms less stable lysogens in E. coli than does the Stx− prophages λ, P22, and 434. The higher spontaneous induction frequency of the Stx+ prophage may be correlated with both virulence and dispersion of the Stx2-encoding phage. Here, we examined the hypothesis that lysogen instability is a common feature of Stx+ prophages. We found in both the absence and presence of prophage inducers (DNA damaging agents, salts), the Stx+ prophages induce at higher frequencies than do Stx− prophages. The observed instability of Stx+ prophages does not appear to be the result of any differences in phage development properties between Stx+ and Stx− phages. Our results indicate that differential stability of Stx+ and Stx− prophages results from both RecA-dependent and RecA-independent effects on the intracellular concentration of the respective cI repressors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Colon
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
| | | | - Yonatan Pevzner
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
| | - Gerald B Koudelka
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
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Koberg S, Mohamed MDA, Faulhaber K, Neve H, Heller KJ. Identification and characterization of cis- and trans-acting elements involved in prophage induction in Streptococcus thermophilus J34. Mol Microbiol 2015; 98:535-52. [PMID: 26193959 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The genetic switch region of temperate Streptococcus thermophilus phage TP-J34 contains two divergently oriented promoters and several predicted operator sites. It separates lytic cycle-promoting genes from those promoting lysogeny. A polycistronic transcript comprises the genes coding for repressor Crh, metalloproteinase-motif protein Rir and superinfection exclusion lipoprotein Ltp. Weak promoters effecting monocistronic transcripts were localized for ltp and int (encoding integrase) by Northern blot and 5'-RACE-PCR. These transcripts appeared in lysogenic as well as lytic state. A polycistronic transcript comprising genes coh (encoding Cro homolog), ant (encoding putative antirepressor), orf7, orf8 and orf9 was only detected in the lytic state. Four operator sites, of which three were located in the intergenic regions between crh and coh, and one between coh and ant, were identified by competition electromobility shift assays. Cooperative binding of Crh to two operator sites immediately upstream of coh could be demonstrated. Coh was shown to bind to the operator closest to crh only. Oligomerization was proven by cross-linking Crh by glutaraldehyde. Knock-out of rir revealed a key role in prophage induction. Rir and Crh were shown to form a complex in solution and Rir prevented binding of Crh to its operator sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Koberg
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut (Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food), Kiel, Germany
| | - Mazhar Desouki Ali Mohamed
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut (Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food), Kiel, Germany
| | - Katharina Faulhaber
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut (Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food), Kiel, Germany
| | - Horst Neve
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut (Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food), Kiel, Germany
| | - Knut J Heller
- Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Max Rubner-Institut (Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food), Kiel, Germany
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Casjens SR, Hendrix RW. Bacteriophage lambda: Early pioneer and still relevant. Virology 2015; 479-480:310-30. [PMID: 25742714 PMCID: PMC4424060 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2015.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2014] [Revised: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Molecular genetic research on bacteriophage lambda carried out during its golden age from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s was critically important in the attainment of our current understanding of the sophisticated and complex mechanisms by which the expression of genes is controlled, of DNA virus assembly and of the molecular nature of lysogeny. The development of molecular cloning techniques, ironically instigated largely by phage lambda researchers, allowed many phage workers to switch their efforts to other biological systems. Nonetheless, since that time the ongoing study of lambda and its relatives has continued to give important new insights. In this review we give some relevant early history and describe recent developments in understanding the molecular biology of lambda's life cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sherwood R Casjens
- Division of Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology Department, University of Utah School of Medicine, Emma Eccles Jones Medical Research Building, 15 North Medical Drive East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Biology Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
| | - Roger W Hendrix
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
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