Isolation and characterization of a novel filamentous phage from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Virology
• Genomics

Background:

• Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen.
• Filamentous phages are important tools in molecular biology and biotechnology.
• Characterization of novel phages can reveal new biological insights.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize a novel filamentous phage from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.
• To determine the genomic and structural properties of the new phage.
• To analyze the phylogenetic relationship of the novel phage to other filamentous phages.

Main Methods:

• Isolation and purification of filamentous phage φSHP1.
• Electron microscopy for morphology and size determination.
• Genome sequencing and analysis of open reading frames (ORFs).
• Tricine-SDS-PAGE and N-terminal sequencing for protein analysis.
• Phylogenetic tree construction.

Main Results:

• A novel filamentous phage, φSHP1, was isolated from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain P2.
• φSHP1 has a 6,867-nucleotide circular single-stranded DNA genome and resembles Inoviridae family phages.
• Ten putative ORFs were identified, with six predicted proteins showing database similarity.
• A major structural polypeptide of approximately 4.0 kDa was identified as the mature product of ORF5.
• Phylogenetic analysis confirmed φSHP1 as the first reported Stenotrophomonas filamentous phage.

Conclusions:

• φSHP1 represents a new lineage of filamentous phages.
• The characterization of φSHP1 provides valuable data on Stenotrophomonas phage diversity.
• This finding contributes to the understanding of phage-host interactions in environmental bacteria.