This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Liu, M. Articles by Miller, J. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Liu, M. Articles by Miller, J. F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2004, p. 1503-1517, Vol. 186, No. 5
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.5.1503-1517.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Genomic and Genetic Analysis of Bordetella Bacteriophages Encoding Reverse Transcriptase-Mediated Tropism-Switching Cassettes

Minghsun Liu,¹ Mari Gingery,¹ Sergei R. Doulatov,¹ Yichin Liu,^2, Asher Hodes,¹ Stephen Baker,³ Paul Davis,³ Mark Simmonds,³ Carol Churcher,³ Karen Mungall,³ Michael A. Quail,³ Andrew Preston,⁴ Eric T. Harvill,^1, Duncan J. Maskell,⁴ Frederick A. Eiserling,¹ Julian Parkhill,³ and Jeff F. Miller^1*

Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095,¹ Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520,² The Sanger Institute, The Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hixton, Cambridge, United Kingdom,³ Centre for Veterinary Science, Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 OES, United Kingdom⁴

Received 5 August 2003/ Accepted 3 November 2003

Liu et al. recently described a group of related temperate bacteriophages that infect Bordetella subspecies and undergo a unique template-dependent, reverse transcriptase-mediated tropism switching phenomenon (Liu et al., Science 295: 2091-2094, 2002). Tropism switching results from the introduction of single nucleotide substitutions at defined locations in the VR1 (variable region 1) segment of the mtd (major tropism determinant) gene, which determines specificity for receptors on host bacteria. In this report, we describe the complete nucleotide sequences of the 42.5- to 42.7-kb double-stranded DNA genomes of three related phage isolates and characterize two additional regions of variability. Forty-nine coding sequences were identified. Of these coding sequences, bbp36 contained VR2 (variable region 2), which is highly dynamic and consists of a variable number of identical 19-bp repeats separated by one of three 5-bp spacers, and bpm encodes a DNA adenine methylase with unusual site specificity and a homopolymer tract that functions as a hotspot for frameshift mutations. Morphological and sequence analysis suggests that these Bordetella phage are genetic hybrids of P22 and T7 family genomes, lending further support to the idea that regions encoding protein domains, single genes, or blocks of genes are readily exchanged between bacterial and phage genomes. Bordetella bacteriophages are capable of transducing genetic markers in vitro, and by using animal models, we demonstrated that lysogenic conversion can take place in the mouse respiratory tract during infection.

Present address: Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139.

Present address: Department of Veterinary Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pham, T. T., Jacobs-Sera, D., Pedulla, M. L., Hendrix, R. W., Hatfull, G. F. (2007). Comparative genomic analysis of mycobacteriophage Tweety: evolutionary insights and construction of compatible site-specific integration vectors for mycobacteria. Microbiology 153: 2711-2723 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Sebaihia, M., Preston, A., Maskell, D. J., Kuzmiak, H., Connell, T. D., King, N. D., Orndorff, P. E., Miyamoto, D. M., Thomson, N. R., Harris, D., Goble, A., Lord, A., Murphy, L., Quail, M. A., Rutter, S., Squares, R., Squares, S., Woodward, J., Parkhill, J., Temple, L. M. (2006). Comparison of the Genome Sequence of the Poultry Pathogen Bordetella avium with Those of B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis Reveals Extensive Diversity in Surface Structures Associated with Host Interaction.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6002-6015 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Summer, E. J., Gonzalez, C. F., Bomer, M., Carlile, T., Embry, A., Kucherka, A. M., Lee, J., Mebane, L., Morrison, W. C., Mark, L., King, M. D., LiPuma, J. J., Vidaver, A. K., Young, R. (2006). Divergence and Mosaicism among Virulent Soil Phages of the Burkholderia cepacia Complex. J. Bacteriol. 188: 255-268 [Abstract] [Full Text]