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Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins

Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins

Published on: June 11, 2015

Genomic polymorphism in the T-even bacteriophages

F Repoila¹, F Tétart, J Y Bouet

¹Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS, UPR 9007, Toulouse, France.

The EMBO Journal

|September 1, 1994

Summary

Genomic analysis of T4-related phages reveals sequence variations in internal protein (IP) loci. These variations, including shuffled IP-like sequences, may influence phage host range, similar to T4

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Area of Science:

Bacteriophage genomics
Molecular evolution
Viral genetics

Background:

T4 bacteriophage is a model organism for studying viral replication and evolution.
Bacteriophages possess diverse genomes with unique mechanisms for genetic variation.
Internal proteins (IPs) encoded by bacteriophages are packaged within the virion and injected into the host.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the genomes of 49 T4-related bacteriophages.
To identify and characterize sequence variations within specific genomic loci.
To investigate the potential role of these variations in phage evolution and host range.

Main Methods:

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of six chromosomal regions.
Comparative genomic analysis of 49 T4-related bacteriophage genomes.
Identification and sequence analysis of open reading frames (ORFs) and flanking regions.

Main Results:

Two types of local sequence variation were identified: two conserved loci with two configurations and two highly polymorphic loci.
The polymorphic loci encode internal proteins (IPs) and exhibit variations in sequence number, order, and identity.
Ten different IP-like ORFs were identified, each with a conserved leader motif and flanking sequences containing promoter and inverted repeat elements.

Conclusions:

The observed variations in IP loci suggest a mechanism for recombinational shuffling of IP sequences.
The identified IP-like sequences may contribute to determining the host range of T4-related phages.
Further research is warranted to elucidate the functional significance of these genetic variations in bacteriophage evolution.