Phage encoded H-NS: a potential achilles heel in the bacterial defence system

The relationship between phage and their microbial hosts is difficult to elucidate in complex natural ecosystems. Engineered systems performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), offer stable, lower complexity communities for studying phage-host interactions. Here, metagenomic data from...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-05, Vol.6 (5), p.e20095-e20095
Main Authors: Skennerton, Connor T, Angly, Florent E, Breitbart, Mya, Bragg, Lauren, He, Shaomei, McMahon, Katherine D, Hugenholtz, Philip, Tyson, Gene W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacteria - virology
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacteriophages - genetics
Binding sites
Bioinformatics
Biology
Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis
Complexity
CRISPR
Datasets
Defense industry
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics
Ecosystems
Gene expression
Genes
Genome, Viral
Genomes
Genomics
Homology
Microorganisms
Molecular biology
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Pathogens
Phages
Phosphorus
Phosphorus removal
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Predation
Proteins
Restriction-modification
Streptococcus thermophilus
Thermal stability
Transcription
Transcription (Genetics)
Tuberculosis
Water treatment
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The relationship between phage and their microbial hosts is difficult to elucidate in complex natural ecosystems. Engineered systems performing enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), offer stable, lower complexity communities for studying phage-host interactions. Here, metagenomic data from an EBPR reactor dominated by Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis (CAP), led to the recovery of three complete and six partial phage genomes. Heat-stable nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein, a global transcriptional repressor in bacteria, was identified in one of the complete phage genomes (EPV1), and was most similar to a homolog in CAP. We infer that EPV1 is a CAP-specific phage and has the potential to repress up to 6% of host genes based on the presence of putative H-NS binding sites in the CAP genome. These genes include CRISPR associated proteins and a Type III restriction-modification system, which are key host defense mechanisms against phage infection. Further, EPV1 was the only member of the phage community found in an EBPR microbial metagenome collected seven months prior. We propose that EPV1 laterally acquired H-NS from CAP providing it with a means to reduce bacterial defenses, a selective advantage over other phage in the EBPR system. Phage encoded H-NS could constitute a previously unrecognized weapon in the phage-host arms race.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0020095