Characterization of a Novel Thermobifida fusca Bacteriophage P318

Jatuporn Cheepudom ,Cheng-Cheng Lee ,Tzu-Ling Lin ,Menghsiao Meng

doi:10.3390/v11111042

Abstract

Thermobifida fusca is of biotechnological interest due to its ability to produce an array of plant cell wall hydrolytic enzymes. Nonetheless, only one T. fusca bacteriophage with genome information has been reported to date. This study was aimed at discovering more relevant bacteriophages to expand the existing knowledge of phage diversity for this host species. With this end in view, a thermostable T. fusca bacteriophage P318, which belongs to the Siphoviridae family, was isolated and characterized. P318 has a double-stranded DNA genome of 48,045 base pairs with 3′-extended COS ends, on which 52 putative ORFs are organized into clusters responsible for the order of genome replication, virion morphogenesis, and the regulation of the lytic/lysogenic cycle. In comparison with T. fusca and the previously discovered bacteriophage P1312, P318 has a much lower G+C content in its genome except at the region encompassing ORF42, which produced a protein with unknown function. P1312 and P318 share very few similarities in their genomes except for the regions encompassing ORF42 of P318 and ORF51 of P1312 that are homologous. Thus, acquisition of ORF42 by lateral gene transfer might be an important step in the evolution of P318.

Highlights

Lignocellulosic wastes produced within the agriculture and forestry sectors can provide myriads of renewable carbon resources for the production of biofuels and various green chemicals
All the selected plaques resulted in almost identical protein banding patterns but distinct from that of P1312 (Figure 1B), suggesting that the isolated plaques resulted from a novel T. fusca phage
Until now P1312 and P318 are the only two reported T. fusca bacteriophages with genomic information. They both belong to the Siphoviridae family and have similar morphology except P318 has a smaller head and a longer tail

Summary

Introduction

Lignocellulosic wastes produced within the agriculture and forestry sectors can provide myriads of renewable carbon resources for the production of biofuels and various green chemicals. It could prove useful if the recalcitrant structure of lignocellulose can be broken and the fermentable sugars inside can be retrieved in economically feasible ways. T. fusca is an aerobic, moderately thermophilic, soil bacterium belonging to Actinobacteria. It is known as an excellent producer of cellulolytic enzymes including various types of cellulase, xylanase, and many other glycoside hydrolases [3,4] as well as lignin degradation-related oxidoreductase [5,6]

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Conclusion