Targeted deletion of Pf prophages from diversePseudomonas aeruginosaisolates impacts quorum sensing and virulence traits

Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that commonly causes medical hardware, wound, and respiratory infections. Temperate filamentous Pf phages that infectP. aeruginosaimpact numerous bacterial virulence phenotypes. Most work on Pf phages has focused on strain Pf4 and its hostP. aeruginosaPAO1. Expanding from Pf4 and PAO1, this study explores diverse Pf strains infectingP. aeruginosaclinical isolates. We describe a simple technique targeting the Pf lysogeny maintenance gene,pflM(PA0718), that enables the effective elimination of Pf prophages from diverseP. aeruginosahosts. This study also assesses the effects different Pf phages have on host quorum sensing, biofilm formation, virulence factor production, and virulence. Collectively, this research not only introduces a valuable tool for Pf prophage elimination from diverseP. aeruginosaisolates, but also advances our understanding of the complex relationship betweenP. aeruginosaand filamentous Pf phages.ImportancePseudomonas aeruginosais an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that is frequently infected by filamentous Pf phages (viruses) that integrate into its chromosome, affecting behavior. While prior work has focused on Pf4 and PAO1, this study investigates diverse Pf strains in clinical isolates. A simple method targeting the deletion of the Pf lysogeny maintenance genepflM(PA0718) effectively eliminates Pf prophages from clinical isolates. The research evaluates the impact Pf prophages have on bacterial quorum sensing, biofilm formation, and virulence phenotypes. This work introduces a valuable tool to eliminate Pf prophages from clinical isolates and advances our understanding ofP. aeruginosaand filamentous Pf phage interactions.