Diversity and characterization of temperate bacteriophages induced in Pasteurella multocida from different host species

Rezheen F Abdulrahman,Robert L Davies

doi:10.1186/s12866-021-02155-9

Rezheen F Abdulrahman, Robert L Davies

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-021-02155-9

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Journal: BMC microbiology	Publication Date: Mar 30, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: open-access

Affiliation: University of Glasgow, University of Duhok

Abstract

BackgroundBacteriophages play important roles in the evolution of bacteria and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains by mediating the horizontal transfer of virulence genes. Pasteurella multocida is responsible for different disease syndromes in a wide range of domesticated animal species. However, very little is known about the influence of bacteriophages on disease pathogenesis in this species.ResultsTemperate bacteriophage diversity was assessed in 47 P. multocida isolates of avian (9), bovine (8), ovine (10) and porcine (20) origin. Induction of phage particles with mitomycin C identified a diverse range of morphological types representing both Siphoviridae and Myoviridae family-types in 29 isolates. Phage of both morphological types were identified in three isolates indicating that a single bacterial host may harbour multiple prophages. DNA was isolated from bacteriophages recovered from 18 P. multocida isolates and its characterization by restriction endonuclease (RE) analysis identified 10 different RE types. Phage of identical RE types were identified in certain closely-related strains but phage having different RE types were present in other closely-related isolates suggesting possible recent acquisition. The host range of the induced phage particles was explored using plaque assay but only 11 (38%) phage lysates produced signs of infection in a panel of indicator strains comprising all 47 isolates. Notably, the majority (9/11) of phage lysates which caused infection originated from two groups of phylogenetically unrelated ovine and porcine strains that uniquely possessed the toxA gene.ConclusionsPasteurella multocida possesses a wide range of Siphoviridae- and Myoviridae-type bacteriophages which likely play key roles in the evolution and virulence of this pathogen.

Highlights

Bacteriophages play important roles in the evolution of bacteria and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains by mediating the horizontal transfer of virulence genes
Bacteriophage induction Mitomycin C is commonly used to induce temperate bacteriophages in bacteria and typically causes lysis of the bacteria which results in clearing of the bacterial suspension over time
To identify the optimum concentration of mitomycin C required to induce temperate bacteriophages in P. multocida isolates, seven different concentrations were tested against eight strains of avian (PM144, PM246), bovine (PM564, PM632), ovine (PM966, PM982) and porcine (PM684, PM734) origin

Summary

Introduction

Bacteriophages play important roles in the evolution of bacteria and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains by mediating the horizontal transfer of virulence genes. Bacteriophages play important roles in the evolution of bacteria and in the emergence of new strains; in particular, they are involved in the transfer of a wide range of virulence genes and can strongly influence the pathogenic potential of bacteria [18,19,20,21,22,23,24] Temperate bacteriophages are those which become integrated into the bacterial chromosome to become a prophage [25] and, in the process, may induce a change in the phenotype of the infected bacterium in a process called lysogenic conversion [26]. The presence of these genes within phage genomes suggests that there is an evolutionary advantage for the bacteriophages to carry such genes, perhaps due to enhanced replication of bacteria carrying these virulence determinants [31]

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