This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JB.01111-06v1 189/4/1482    most recent 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 Labrie, S. J. Articles by Moineau, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Labrie, S. J. Articles by Moineau, S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.01111-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Abortive infection mechanisms and prophage sequences significantly influence the genetic make-up of emerging lytic lactococcal phages

Département de biochimie et de microbiologie, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Groupe de recherche en écologie buccale, Faculté de médecine dentaire, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: Sylvain.Moineau{at}bcm.ulaval.ca.

	Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate the remarkable genome plasticity of lytic lactococcal phages allowing them to rapidly adapt to the dynamic dairy environment. The lytic double-stranded DNA phage ul36 was used to sequentially infect a wild-type strain of Lactococcus lactis and two isogenic derivatives encoding two phage resistance mechanisms, namely AbiK and AbiT. Four phage mutants resistant to one or both Abi mechanisms were isolated. Comparative analysis of their complete genomes as well as morphological observations revealed that phage ul36 extensively evolved by large-scale homologous and non-homologous recombinations with the inducible prophage present in the host strain. One phage mutant has exchanged as much as 79% of its genome as compared to the core genome of ul36. Thus, natural phage defence mechanisms and prophage elements found in bacterial chromosomes are significantly contributing to the evolution of the lytic phage population.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Durmaz, E., Miller, M. J., Azcarate-Peril, M. A., Toon, S. P., Klaenhammer, T. R. (2008). Genome Sequence and Characteristics of Lrm1, a Prophage from Industrial Lactobacillus rhamnosus Strain M1. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4601-4609 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Labrie, S. J., Josephsen, J., Neve, H., Vogensen, F. K., Moineau, S. (2008). Morphology, Genome Sequence, and Structural Proteome of Type Phage P335 from Lactococcus lactis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 4636-4644 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Deveau, H., Barrangou, R., Garneau, J. E., Labonte, J., Fremaux, C., Boyaval, P., Romero, D. A., Horvath, P., Moineau, S. (2008). Phage Response to CRISPR-Encoded Resistance in Streptococcus thermophilus. J. Bacteriol. 190: 1390-1400 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Fortier, L.-C., Moineau, S. (2007). Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Temperate Phages in Clostridium difficile. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 7358-7366 [Abstract] [Full Text]