Pantailocins: phage-derived bacteriocins from Pantoea ananatis and Pantoea stewartii subsp. indologenes

Abstract

Phage-derived bacteriocins are highly specific and effective antimicrobial molecules, which have successfully been used as prophylactic treatments to prevent phytopathogen infections. Given the specificity of tailocins, a necessary step for broadening the tailocin catalog and for extending applicability across systems and diseases is the screening of new clades of phytopathogens for the production of molecules with tailocin-like killing activity. Here, we describe the production by and sensitivity of strains to tailocins produced by Pantoea ananatis and Pantoea stewartii subsp. indologenes . Phylogenetic evidence suggests that these tailocins are derived from Myoviridae family phage like many previously described R-type tailocins but also suggests that cooption from phage occurred independently of previously described tailocins. Since these tailocin encoding loci are present in the same genomic locations across multiple strains of both species and display a level of divergence that is consistent with other shared regions between the genomes and with vertical inheritance of the locus, we refer to them broadly as “Pantailocins.” IMPORTANCE Phage-derived bacteriocins (tailocins) are ribosomally synthesized structures produced by bacteria in order to provide advantages against competing strains under natural conditions. Tailocins are highly specific in their target range and have proven to be effective for the prevention and/or treatment of bacterial diseases under clinical and agricultural settings. We describe the discovery and characterization of a new tailocin locus encoded within genomes of Pantoea ananatis and Pantoea stewartii subsp. indologenes , which may enable the development of tailocins as preventative treatments against phytopathogenic infection by these species.