title: O antigen is the receptor of Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1 El Tor typing phage VP4.
abstract: Bacteriophage VP4 is a lytic phage of the Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1, and it is used in phage subtyping of V. cholerae biotype El Tor. Studies of phage infection mechanisms will promote the understanding of the basis of phage subtyping as well as the genetic differences between sensitive and resistant strains. In this study, we investigated the receptor that phage VP4 uses to bind to El Tor strains of V. cholerae and found that it infects strains through adsorbing the O antigen of V. cholerae O1. In some natural isolates that are resistant to VP4 infection, mutations were identified in the wb* cluster (O-antigen gene cluster), which is responsible for the biosynthesis of O antigen. Mutations in the manB, wbeE, and wbeU genes caused failure of adsorption of VP4 to these strains, whereas the observed amino acid residue mutations within wbeW and manC have no effect on VP4 infection. Additionally, although mutations in two resistant strains were found only in manB and wbeW, complementing both genes did not restore sensitivity to VP4 infection, suggesting that other resistance mechanisms may exist. Therefore, the mechanism of VP4 infection may provide a basis for subtyping the phage. Elaborate mutations of the O antigen may imbue V. cholerae strains with resistance to phage infection.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention and State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Changping, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jialiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jingyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kan
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption / Q000502:physiology; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D019081:O Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D019151:Peptide Library; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012645:Selenomethionine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019081:O Antigens; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D019151:Peptide Library; D011991:Receptors, Virus; C474470:SYBR Gold nucleic acid gel stain; C069627:adenosylselenomethionine; D012645:Selenomethionine