Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins
09:40

Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins

Published on: June 11, 2015

12.2K

Characterization of novel recombinant mycobacteriophages derived from homologous recombination between two temperate

Hamidu T Mohammed1,2, Catherine Mageeney1,3, Jamie Korenberg1,4

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.

G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
|September 15, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Mycobacteriophage Butters phages can recombine with Island3 phages, creating novel Butters-Island3-Butters (BIB) phages. These BIB phages overcome existing phage defenses, offering potential for new phage therapies.

Area of Science:

  • Bacteriophage biology
  • Genomics
  • Molecular evolution

Background:

  • Mycobacteriophage genomes exhibit significant genetic diversity and mosaicism.
  • The prophage of mycobacteriophage Butters (cluster N) confers resistance to infection by Island3 phages (subcluster I1).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the anti-Island3 defense mechanism of mycobacteriophage Butters.
  • To characterize the genetic basis of phage recombination and its implications for overcoming host defenses.

Main Methods:

  • Attempted isolation of Island3 defense escape mutants on a Butters lysogen.
  • Genomic analysis of resulting recombinant phages using techniques like transmission electron microscopy.
  • Identification of homologous recombination regions within the phage genomes.

Main Results:

  • Recombination between Butters and Island3 phages yielded novel Butters-Island3-Butters (BIB) mosaic phages.
  • Recombination occurred in specific homologous regions containing lysin, holin, RecE, and RecT genes.
  • BIB phages possess structural genes from Butters and an immunity cassette from Island3, rendering them homoimmune with Island3.
  • These recombinant phages successfully circumvented the antiphage defenses of the Butters lysogen.

Conclusions:

  • Phage recombination can generate novel genotypes that overcome existing antiphage defense systems.
  • The observed Butters-Island3 recombination provides a model for generating phages with altered host ranges and immunity profiles.
  • This recombination strategy offers a potential method for developing novel mycobacteriophages for therapeutic applications.
Keywords:
bacteriophage evolutionhomologous recombinationmycobacteriophage genomicsphage genetic diversityphage genome mosaicismphage therapy

More Related Videos

Methodology for the Efficient Generation of Fluorescently Tagged Vaccinia Virus Proteins09:27

Methodology for the Efficient Generation of Fluorescently Tagged Vaccinia Virus Proteins

Published on: January 17, 2014

7.7K
Understanding the Impact of Temperate Bacteriophages on Their Lysogens Through Transcriptomics09:23

Understanding the Impact of Temperate Bacteriophages on Their Lysogens Through Transcriptomics

Published on: January 5, 2024

1.9K

Related Concept Videos

DNA Bacteriophages01:26

DNA Bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, utilizing their genetic material to hijack host cellular machinery for replication. DNA bacteriophages employ single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genomes. These phages exhibit diverse replication strategies and host interactions, influencing their ecological roles and applications in biotechnology and medicine.ssDNA BacteriophagesssDNA phages, with their small genomes, utilize unique strategies to...
45
Viral Recombination00:57

Viral Recombination

Cells are sometimes infected by more than one virus at once. When two viruses disassemble to expose their genomes for replication in the same cell, similar regions of their genomes can pair together and exchange sequences in a process called recombination. Alternatively, viruses with segmented genomes can swap segments in a process called reassortment.
23.5K
Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages00:43

Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages

In contrast to the lytic cycle, phages infecting bacteria via the lysogenic cycle do not immediately kill their host cell. Instead, they combine their genome with the host genome, allowing the bacteria to replicate the phage DNA along with the bacterial genome. The incorporated copy of the phage genome is called the prophage. Some prophages can re-activate and enter the lytic cycle. This often occurs in response to a perturbation, such as DNA damage, but can also transpire in the absence of...
62.3K
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation02:53

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
6.0K
Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages01:30

Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are specialized viruses that infect bacteria. A key characteristic of phages is their distinctive “head-tail” morphology. A phage begins the infection process (i.e., lytic cycle) by attaching to the outside of a bacterial cell. Attachment is accomplished via proteins in the phage tail that bind to specific receptor proteins on the outer surface of the bacterium. The tail injects the phage’s DNA genome into the bacterial cytoplasm. In the...
70.9K
Viral Replication: Lysogenic Cycle01:16

Viral Replication: Lysogenic Cycle

The lysogenic cycle is a crucial viral replication strategy that allows bacteriophages to persist within host cells without immediately destroying them. This process is primarily observed in temperate phages, such as bacteriophage lambda (λ), which infects Escherichia coli. The cycle allows the viral genome to persist across bacterial generations while keeping host cells viable.Integration of the Viral GenomeUpon infection, bacteriophage lambda attaches to the bacterial surface and injects...
49