Repository logo
 

Bacteriophage host range evolution through engineered enrichment bias, exploiting heterologous surface receptor expression.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

No Thumbnail Available

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

Research on the initial phage-host interaction has been conducted on a limited repertoire of phages and their cognate receptors, such as phage λ and the Escherichia coli LamB (EcLamB) protein. Apart from phage λ, little is known about other phages that target EcLamB. Here, we developed a simple method for isolating novel environmental phages in a predictable way, i.e. isolating phages that target a particular receptor(s) of a bacterium, in this case, the EcLamB protein. A plasmid (pMUT13) encoding the EcLamB porin was transferred into three different enterobacterial genera. By enrichment with these engineered bacteria, a number of phages (ZZ phages) that targeted EcLamB were easily isolated from the environment. Interestingly, although EcLamB-dependent in their recombinant heterologous hosts, these newly isolated ZZ phages also targeted OmpC as an alternative receptor when infecting E. coli. Moreover, the phage host range was readily extended within three different bacterial genera with heterologously expressed EcLamB. Unlike phage λ, which is a member of the Siphoviridae family, these newly isolated EcLamB-dependent phages were more commonly members of the Myoviridae family, based on transmission electron microscopy and genomic sequences. Modifications of this convenient and efficient phage enrichment method could be useful for the discovery of novel phages.

Description

Keywords

Bacteria, Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins, Bacteriophages, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli Proteins, Host Specificity, Porins, Receptors, Virus, Recombinant Proteins

Journal Title

Environ Microbiol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1462-2912
1462-2920

Volume Title

22

Publisher

Wiley

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G000298/1)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/H002677/1)
BBSRC (BB/T006668/1)