Authors

Deborah Jacobs-Sera, University of Pittsburgh
Nathan S. Reyna, Ouachita Baptist UniversityFollow
Lawrence A. Abad, University of Pittsburgh
Richard M. Alvey, Illinois Wesleyan University
Kirk R. Anders, Gonzaga University
Haley G. Aull, University of Pittsburgh
Suparna S. Bhalla, Mount Saint Mary College
Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
David W. Bollivar, Illinois Wesleyan University
J. Alfred Bonilla, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Kristen A. Butela, University of Pittsburgh
Roy J. Coomans, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Steven G. Cresawn, James Madison University
Tom D'Elia, Indian River State College
Arturo Diaz, La Sierra University
Ashley M. Divens, University of Pittsburgh
Nicholas P. Edgington, Southern Connecticut State University
Gregory D. Frederick, LeTourneau University
Maria D. Gainey, Western Carolina University
Rebecca A. Garlena, University of Pittsburgh
Kenneth W. Grant, Wake Forest Baptist Health
Susan M.R. Gurney, Drexel University
Heather L. Hendrickson, Massey University Auckland
Lee E. Hughes, University of North Texas
Margaret A. Kenna, Lehigh University
Karen K. Klyczek, University of Wisconsin-River Falls
Hari Kotturi, University of Central Oklahoma
Travis N. Mavrich, University of Pittsburgh
Angela L. McKinney, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Evan C. Merkhofer, Mount Saint Mary College
Jordan Moberg Parker, University of California, Los Angeles
Sally D. Molloy, University of Maine
Denise L. Monti, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dana A. Pape-Zambito, University of Sciences in Philadelphia

Department

Biology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2020

Abstract

The bacteriophage population is vast, dynamic, old, and genetically diverse. The genomics of phages that infect bacterial hosts in the phylum Actinobacteria show them to not only be diverse but also pervasively mosaic, and replete with genes of unknown function. To further explore this broad group of bacteriophages, we describe here the isolation and genomic characterization of 116 phages that infect Microbacterium spp. Most of the phages are lytic, and can be grouped into twelve clusters according to their overall relatedness; seven of the phages are singletons with no close relatives. Genome sizes vary from 17.3 kbp to 97.7 kbp, and their G+C% content ranges from 51.4% to 71.4%, compared to ~67% for their Microbacterium hosts. The phages were isolated on five different Microbacterium species, but typically do not efficiently infect strains beyond the one on which they were isolated. These Microbacterium phages contain many novel features, including very large viral genes (13.5 kbp) and unusual fusions of structural proteins, including a fusion of VIP2 toxin and a MuF-like protein into a single gene. These phages and their genetic components such as integration systems, recombineering tools, and phage-mediated delivery systems, will be useful resources for advancing Microbacterium genetics.

Publication Title

PLoS ONE

Publisher Statement

Copyright © the Authors

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0234636

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

pone.0234636.s001.xlsx (98 kB)
S1 Table: Average nucleotide identities of Microbacterium phage genomes

pone.0234636.s002.xlsx (43 kB)
S2 Table: Gene content similarity of Microbacterium phage genomes

pone.0234636.s003.tif (1207 kB)
S1 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA2 phage Eleri

pone.0234636.s004.tif (1313 kB)
S2 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA3 phage casey

pone.0234636.s005.tif (809 kB)
S3 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA4 golden

pone.0234636.s006.tif (805 kB)
S4 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA5 neferthena

pone.0234636.s007.tif (810 kB)
S5 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA6 chepli

pone.0234636.s008.tif (753 kB)
S6 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA7 theresita

pone.0234636.s009.tif (830 kB)
S7 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium subcluster EA8 schubert

pone.0234636.s010.tif (2403 kB)
S8 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EB phages

pone.0234636.s011.tif (1651 kB)
S9 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EC phages

pone.0234636.s012.tif (2089 kB)
S10 Figure: Repeated sequence motifs in Microbacterium phages

pone.0234636.s013.tif (1753 kB)
S11 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster ED phages

pone.0234636.s014.tif (1471 kB)
S12 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EE phages

pone.0234636.s015.tif (1591 kB)
S13 Figure: Genome organizations of Microbacterium cluster EG phages

pone.0234636.s016.tif (966 kB)
S14 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EH phages

pone.0234636.s017.tif (936 kB)
S15 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EI phages

pone.0234636.s018.tif (732 kB)
S16 Figure: Genome organization of Microbacterium cluster EJ phages

pone.0234636.s019.tif (1022 kB)
S17 Figure: Relationships between phage genomes of different Actinobacterium hosts

pone.0234636.s020.tif (990 kB)
S18 Figure: Inter-cluster relationships among Microbacterium phages

pone.0234636.s021.tif (152 kB)
S19 Figure: Raw image of Figure 16

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