title: Bacteriophage infection in rod-shaped gram-positive bacteria: evidence for a preferential polar route for phage SPP1 entry in Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: Entry into the host bacterial cell is one of the least understood steps in the life cycle of bacteriophages. The different envelopes of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, with a fluid outer membrane and exposing a thick peptidoglycan wall to the environment respectively, impose distinct challenges for bacteriophage binding and (re)distribution on the bacterial surface. Here, infection of the Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus subtilis by bacteriophage SPP1 was monitored in space and time. We found that SPP1 reversible adsorption occurs preferentially at the cell poles. This initial binding facilitates irreversible adsorption to the SPP1 phage receptor protein YueB, which is encoded by a putative type VII secretion system gene cluster. YueB was found to concentrate at the cell poles and to display a punctate peripheral distribution along the sidewalls of B. subtilis cells. The kinetics of SPP1 DNA entry and replication were visualized during infection. Most of the infecting phages DNA entered and initiated replication near the cell poles. Altogether, our results reveal that the preferentially polar topology of SPP1 receptors on the surface of the host cell determines the site of phage DNA entry and subsequent replication, which occurs in discrete foci.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Virologie Moléculaire et Structurale, Centre de Recherche de Gif, CNRS UPR 3296 and IFR 115, Avenue de la Terrasse, Bâtiment 14B, CNRS, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jakutytė
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: São-José
authors.forename: Rimantas
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Daugelavičius
authors.forename: Rut
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carballido-López
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tavares
mesh_terms: D017103:Bacillus Phages / Q000502:physiology*; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000821:virology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000378:metabolism; D053585:Virus Attachment; D053586:Virus Internalization; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004279:DNA, Viral; D011991:Receptors, Virus