A Novel Phage Infecting Alteromonas Represents a Distinct Group of Siphophages Infecting Diverse Aquatic Copiotrophs

Abstract

The evolution and ecology of phages infecting members of Alteromonas , a marine opportunistic genus that is widely distributed and of great ecological significance, remain poorly understood. The present study integrates physiological and genomic evidence to characterize the properties and putative phage-host interactions of a newly isolated Alteromonas phage, vB_AcoS-R7M (R7M).

Genome and Ecology of a NovelAlteromonasPodovirus, ZP6, Representing a New Viral Genus,Mareflavirus

“…The burst size is close to 210 virions per cell ( Fig. 1B ), which is smaller than those of the other four Alteromonas podoviruses, vB_AmaP_AD45 P1 to P4 (500 virions per cell) ( 33 ), but larger than those of Autographiviridae virus vB_AmeP-R8W (88 PFU/cell) ( 36 ) and Siphoviridae virus R7M (182 PFU/cell) ( 32 ).…”

“…So far, only 11 Alteromonas phages have been isolated and deposited into GenBank, including five siphoviruses, four podoviruses, two autographiviruses, one myovirus, and one unclassified virus. The five Siphoviridae phages, including JH01, P24, PB15, XX1924, and vB_AcoS-R7M ( 29 – 32 ), were all isolated from the coastal water of China. Among those siphoviruses, vB_AcoS-R7M was found to share a set of similar characteristics with a number of siphophages infecting diverse aquatic opportunistic copiotrophs and inspired the creation of a new subfamily, Queuovirinae ( 32 ).…”

“…The five Siphoviridae phages, including JH01, P24, PB15, XX1924, and vB_AcoS-R7M ( 29 – 32 ), were all isolated from the coastal water of China. Among those siphoviruses, vB_AcoS-R7M was found to share a set of similar characteristics with a number of siphophages infecting diverse aquatic opportunistic copiotrophs and inspired the creation of a new subfamily, Queuovirinae ( 32 ). Podoviridae phages vB_AmaP_AD45 P1 to P4 ( 33 ) have very similar genomic structures.…”

A New Enterobacter cloacae Bacteriophage EC151 Encodes the Deazaguanine DNA Modification Pathway and Represents a New Genus within the Siphoviridae Family

“…Recently, it has been found that queuosine biosynthesis genes in phage genomes are responsible for 7-deazaguanine derivative insertion into phage DNA [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. 7-Deazaguanine modifications are believed to protect phage DNA from host restriction enzymes [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Phage genomes may possess various sets of queuosine biosynthesis genes.…”

“…Phage genomes may possess various sets of queuosine biosynthesis genes. Besides the folE , queD , queC , and queE genes, phage genomes contain dpdA and Gat-queC (instead of queC) genes or encode a preQ 0 transporter [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Notably, queuosine biosynthesis genes have been found in genomes of phages infecting both enterobacteria and other Gammaproteobacteria [ 11 , 14 ].…”