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Updated: Jun 10, 2025

Understanding the Impact of Temperate Bacteriophages on Their Lysogens Through Transcriptomics
Published on: January 5, 2024
A reverse transcriptase controls prophage genome reduction to promote phage dissemination in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Yunxue Guo1, Shituan Lin2, Ran Chen3
1Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Marine Materia Medica, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 1119 Haibin Road, Nansha District, Guangzhou 511458, China; Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), No. 1119 Haibin Road, Nansha District, Guangzhou 511458, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
Abstract:
Filamentous bacteriophages play a critical role in biofilm formation and virulence in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, studies of the filamentous Pf4 prophage life cycle within P. aeruginosa biofilms revealed that the prophage-encoded reverse transcriptase (RT) regulates phage genome dynamics. The RT and the non-coding RNA PhrD collaborate to edit the Pf4 phage genome to generate superinfective Pf4 variants capable of rapid propagation within biofilms by preserving genes essential for virion assembly and reconstituting a promoter for the phage excisionase gene. Mutant cells emerge in biofilms where intact Pf4 prophages are replaced by these reduced-genome phage variants, further enhancing virion production. The discovery of RT's role in phage genome reduction expands understanding of RT functions and of the versatility of phage biology and its impact on microbial community dynamics within biofilms.
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