Abstract
Phages have attracted a renewed interest as alternative to chemical antibiotics. Although the number of phages is 10-fold higher than that of bacteria, the number of genomically characterized phages is far less than that of bacteria. In this study, phage TC6, a novel lytic virus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was isolated and characterized. TC6 consists of an icosahedral head with a diameter of approximately 54 nm and a short tail with a length of about 17 nm, which are characteristics of the family Podoviridae. TC6 can lyse 86 out of 233 clinically isolated P. aeruginosa strains, thus showing application potentials for phage therapy. The linear double-stranded genomic DNA of TC6 consisted of 49796 base pairs and was predicted to contain 71 protein-coding genes. A total of 11 TC6 structural proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Comparative analysis revealed that the P. aeruginosa phages TC6, O4, PA11, and IME180 shared high similarity at DNA sequence and proteome levels, among which PA11 was the first phage discovered and published. Meanwhile, these phages contain 54 core genes and have very close phylogenetic relationships, which distinguish them from other known phage genera. We therefore proposed that these four phages can be classified as Pa11virus, comprising a new phage genus of Podoviridae that infects Pseudomonas spp. The results of this work promoted our understanding of phage biology, classification, and diversity.
Highlights
Bacteriophages are natural components of all ecosystems, and the estimated numbers of phages are approximately 10-fold higher than that of bacteria (Breitbart and Rohwer, 2005)
The emerging of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pan-drug-resistant P. aeruginosa strains makes the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection very difficult (Ang et al, 2016)
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis indicated that TC6 head structure was an icosahedron with a diameter of approximately 54 nm (Figure 1)
Summary
Bacteriophages (phages) are natural components of all ecosystems, and the estimated numbers of phages are approximately 10-fold higher than that of bacteria (Breitbart and Rohwer, 2005). As natural killers of bacteria, phages have been used to treat human bacterial infectious diseases at the early stage of discovery (Chanishvili, 2012). Considering that the problem of drug resistance has become increasingly serious, both the fundamental research and therapeutic application of phages are re-evaluated (Cisek et al, 2017). As a non-fermentative Gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa are widely distributed in soil, sewage, medical institutions, and other environments (Stover et al, 2000). It is an important opportunistic pathogen, which is the main Gram-negative bacteria causing nosocomial infections; infection caused by this pathogen can be fatal (Hilker et al, 2015; Crull et al, 2018). The emerging of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pan-drug-resistant P. aeruginosa strains makes the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection very difficult (Ang et al, 2016)
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