Abstract
Cyanobacterial blooms are a worldwide ecological issue. Cyanophages are aquatic viruses specifically infecting cyanobacteria. Little is known about freshwater cyanophages. In this study, a freshwater cyanophage, Mae-Yong924-1, was isolated by the double-layer agar plate method using Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB-924 as an indicator host. Mae-Yong924-1 has several unusual characteristics: a unique shape, cross-taxonomic order infectivity and a very unique genome sequence. Mae-Yong924-1 contains a nearly spherical head of about 100 nm in diameter. The tail or tail-like structure (approximately 40 nm in length) is like the tassel of a round Chinese lantern. It could lyse six diverse cyanobacteria strains across three orders including Chroococcales, Nostocales and Oscillatoriales. The genome of the cyanophage is 40,325 bp in length, with a G + C content of 48.32%, and 59 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), only 12 (20%) of which were functionally annotated. Both BLASTn and BLASTx scanning resulted in “No significant similarity found”, i.e., the Mae-Yong924-1 genome shared extremely low homology with sequences in NCBI databases. Mae-Yong924-1 formed a root node alone and monopolized a root branch in the proteomic tree based on genome-wide sequence similarities. The results suggest that Mae-Yong924-1 may reveal a new unknown family apparently distinct from other viruses.
Highlights
Published: 28 January 2022Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria have become a common occurrence in water bodies worldwide
The genome of the cyanophage is 40,325 bp in length, with a G + C content of 48.32%, and 59 predicted open reading frames (ORFs), only 12 (20%) of which were functionally annotated
Cyanotoxins are key risk factors that contribute to the development of liver cancer
Summary
Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria have become a common occurrence in water bodies worldwide. Microcystis spp. are the most ecologically harmful and dominant bloom-forming cyanobacteria in freshwater lakes [3]. They usually produce microcystins (MCs) at concentrations that cause chronic poisoning or acute death to animals and humans [4]. The full genome sequenced Microcystis cyanophages are MaMV-DC, Ma-LMM01, Mic, vB_MelS-Me-ZS1 and MaAM05 (alias PhiMa05), harboring 169,223 bp, 162,109 bp, 92,627 bp, 49,665 bp and. Microcystis aeruginosa forms toxic cyanobacterial blooms throughout the world. Far, only four reported cyanophages have been isolated with M. aeruginosa, which are Ma-LBP, Ma-LMM01, MaMV-DC and. We isolated a novel freshwater cyanophage, Mae-Yong924, using M. aeruginosa FACHB-924 as an indicator cyanobacterial strain. Mae-Yong924 may represent a new family distinct from the other viruses
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
