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Distantly related Alteromonas bacteriophages share tail fibers exhibiting properties of transient chaperone caps

Rafael Gonzalez-Serrano1,2, Riccardo Rosselli3,4, Juan J Roda-Garcia1

  • 1Evolutionary Genomics Group, Universidad Miguel Hernández, San Juan de Alicante, Spain.

Nature Communications
|October 16, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Bacteriophages share host recognition modules, like tail fibers, even between distant relatives. Structural changes explain differences in chaperone dependency and suggest broader horizontal gene transfer among phages.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Virology
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • Bacteriophage host recognition modules, including receptor binding proteins (RBPs), evolve rapidly through mutation and recombination to overcome bacterial host defenses.
  • These modules are crucial for phage infectivity and are often shared among related phages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the structural basis and evolutionary implications of host recognition module sharing between distantly related bacteriophages.
  • To understand the role of chaperones in the assembly and function of bacteriophage tail fibers.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of host recognition modules from Alteromonas mediterranea schitovirus A5 and Alteromonas myovirus V22.
  • AlphaFold modeling to predict the structures of tail fiber and chaperone pairs.
  • Functional assays to assess tail fiber production and activity.

Main Results:

  • Alteromonas mediterranea schitovirus A5 shares its host recognition module with distantly related phages like Alteromonas myovirus V22.
  • Functional A5 tail fibers can be produced independently of chaperone co-expression, unlike V22 tail fibers.
  • AlphaFold models reveal structural modifications, including knob domain duplication and chaperone β-hairpin extensions, linked to differential chaperone dependency.
  • Chaperones may also function as transient tail fiber caps.

Conclusions:

  • Horizontal gene transfer and recombination are likely more prevalent among Caudoviricetes phages than previously assumed.
  • Structural variations in host recognition modules contribute to diverse phage-host interactions and evolutionary strategies.

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