Novel giant siphovirus from Bacillus anthracis features unusual genome characteristics.
Here we present vB_BanS-Tsamsa, a novel temperate phage isolated from Bacillus anthracis, the agent responsible for anthrax infections in wildlife, livestock and humans. Tsamsa phage is a giant siphovirus (order Caudovirales), featuring a long, flexible and non-contractile tail of 440 nm (not including baseplate structure) and an isometric head of 82 nm in diameter. We induced Tsamsa phage in samples from two different carcass sites in Etosha National Park, Namibia. The Tsamsa phage genome is the largest sequenced Bacillus siphovirus, containing 168,876 bp and 272 ORFs. The genome features an integrase/recombinase enzyme, indicative of a temperate lifestyle. Among bacterial strains tested, the phage infected only certain members of the Bacillus cereus sensu lato group (B. anthracis, B. cereus and B. thuringiensis) and exhibited moderate specificity for B. anthracis. Tsamsa lysed seven out of 25 B. cereus strains, two out of five B. thuringiensis strains and six out of seven B. anthracis strains tested. It did not lyse B. anthracis PAK-1, an atypical strain that is also resistant to both gamma phage and cherry phage. The Tsamsa endolysin features a broader lytic spectrum than the phage host range, indicating possible use of the enzyme in Bacillus biocontrol.
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Holly H
HH
Ganz
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Christina
C
Law
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Martina
M
Schmuki
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Fritz
F
Eichenseher
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
Richard
R
Calendar
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Martin J
MJ
Loessner
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; School of Mathematical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Wayne M
WM
Getz
Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, California, United States of America.
Jonas
J
Korlach
University of Hohenheim, Institute of Environmental and Animal Hygiene, Stuttgart, Germany.
Wolfgang
W
Beyer
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Jochen
J
Klumpp
D000818:Animals; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D003710:Demography; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018397:Equidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009276:Namibia; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017906:Siphoviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013045:Species Specificity
D010450:Endopeptidases; C001143:endolysin