Roles of bacteriophage GVE2 endolysin in host lysis at high temperatures

The holin-endolysin system is used by double-stranded DNA phages to lyse their bacterial hosts at the terminal stage of the phage reproduction cycle. Endolysins are proteins with one of several muralytic activities able to digest the bacterial cell wall for phage progeny release. However, the functions of thermophilic bacteriophage endolysin in host lysis have not been extensively investigated. In this study, the roles of the endolysin of a thermophilic bacteriophage, GVE2, from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, which could infect Geobacillus sp. E263 at high temperatures, were characterized. The results showed that GVE2 could lead to lysis of host cells. The confocal microscopy data showed that GFP-endolysin aggregated in GVE2-infected Geobacillus sp. E263 cells, showing the involvement of endolysin in the lysis process at high temperatures. The results revealed that the GVE2 endolysin and holin interacted directly. It was found that the endolysin could interact with the host protein ABC transporter, suggesting that host proteins might participate in the regulation of the lysis process. Therefore, our study presents a novel insight into the mechanism of the lysis process of a thermophilic bacterium by its phage at high temperatures, which should be helpful in revealing the roles of thermophilic bacteriophages in the biosphere of deep-sea hydrothermal vents.