Three Novel Bacteriophages, J5a, F16Ba, and z1a, Specific for Bacillus anthracis, Define a New Clade of Historical Wbeta Phage Relatives

Abstract

Bacillus anthracis is a potent biowarfare agent, able to be highly lethal. The bacteria dwell in the soil of certain regions, as natural flora. Bacteriophages or their lytic enzymes, endolysins, may be an alternative for antibiotics and other antibacterials to fight this pathogen in infections and to minimize environmental contamination with anthrax endospores. Upon screening environmental samples from various regions in Poland, we isolated three new siphophages, J5a, F16Ba, and z1a, specific for B. anthracis. They represent new species related to historical anthrax phages Gamma, Cherry, and Fah, and to phage Wbeta of Wbetavirus genus. We show that the new phages and their closest relatives, phages Tavor_SA, Negev_SA, and Carmel_SA, form a separate clade of the Wbetavirus genus, designated as J5a clade. The most distinctive feature of J5a clade phages is their cell lysis module. While in the historical phages it encodes a canonical endolysin and a class III holin, in J5a clade phages it encodes an endolysin with a signal peptide and two putative holins. We present the basic characteristic of the isolated phages. Their comparative genomic analysis indicates that they encode two receptor-binding proteins, of which one may bind a sugar moiety of B. anthracis cell surface.

A Genome of Temperate Enterococcus Bacteriophage Placed in a Space of Pooled Viral Dark Matter Sequences

“…On the other hand, three different packaging mechanisms as well as a slightly varying genomic organization favor a description of a family-level taxon. The number of 16 shared genes may also be interpreted as a family-level trait when compared to 31 shared genes in Wbetavirus [ 69 ]. Due to the limited number of representatives and the apparently minor significance of the proposed taxon, we suggest a grouping of the genus level.…”

20 years of Biological Threats Identification and Countermeasure Center of Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (MIHE) – areas of activity and achievements

“…na udział w międzynarodowym projekcie "Anthrax Environmental Decontamination Network -Marie Curie Actions". Celem projektu jest porównanie otrzymanych metodą klonowania lizyn kodowanych przez fagi lityczne wobec B. anthracis oraz ocena ich działania litycznego na komórki wegetatywne szczepów wąglika i innych bakterii z grupy Bacillus cereus, ale przede wszystkim na endospory, których skuteczne i bezpieczne dla środowiska zwalczanie stanowi trudny problem [28]. Poszukiwania fagolizyn, aktywnych w stosunku wobec bakterii infekujących rany, jak np.…”