T4-like Bacteriophages Isolated from Pig Stools Infect Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis Using LPS and OmpF as Receptors

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 296
• Main Authors: Salem, Mabruka, Pajunen, Maria I, Jun, Jin Woo, Skurnik, Mikael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 13.02.2021; MDPI AG
• Subjects: bacteriophage; lipopolysaccharide; Myoviridae; receptor; tail fiber; Y. pseudotuberculosis; receptor; Y. pseudotuberculosis; tail fiber; lipopolysaccharide; bacteriophage; Myoviridae; Gp38
• ISSN: 1999-4915; 1999-4915
• DOI: 10.3390/v13020296

The bacteriophages fPS-2, fPS-65, and fPS-90, isolated from pig stools, have long contractile tails and elongated heads, and they belong to genus Tequatroviruses in the order . The phages exhibited relatively wide host ranges among and related species. One-step growth curve experiments revealed that the phages have latent periods of 50-80 min with burst sizes of 44-65 virions per infected cell. The phage genomes consist of circularly permuted dsDNA of 169,060, 167,058, and 167,132 bp in size, respectively, with a G + C content 35.3%. The number of predicted genes range from 267 to 271. The phage genomes are 84-92% identical to each other and ca 85% identical to phage T4. The phage receptors were identified by whole genome sequencing of spontaneous phage-resistant mutants. The phage-resistant strains had mutations in the or genes. OmpF is a porin, and the other genes encode lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthetic enzymes. The , , and mutants were successfully complemented with respective wild-type genes. The host recognition was assigned to long tail fiber tip protein Gp38, analogous to that of T-even phages such as phage S16, specifically to the distal β-helices connecting loops.