Chromosomal DNA deletion confers phage resistance to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Bacteria develop a broad range of phage resistance mechanisms, such as prevention of phage adsorption and CRISPR/Cas system, to survive phage predation. In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA1 strain was infected with lytic phage PaP1, and phage-resistant mutants were selected. A high percentage (~30%) of these mutants displayed red pigmentation phenotype (Red mutant). Through comparative genomic analysis, one Red mutant PA1r was found to have a 219.6 kb genomic fragment deletion, which contains two key genes hmgA and galU related to the observed phenotypes. Deletion of hmgA resulted in the accumulation of a red compound homogentisic acid; while A galU mutant is devoid of O-antigen, which is required for phage adsorption. Intriguingly, while the loss of galU conferred phage resistance, it significantly attenuated PA1r in a mouse infection experiment. Our study revealed a novel phage resistance mechanism via chromosomal DNA deletion in P. aeruginosa.
1] Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China [2] School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Shuai
S
Le
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Xinyue
X
Yao
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Shuguang
S
Lu
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Yinling
Y
Tan
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Xiancai
X
Rao
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Ming
M
Li
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Xiaolin
X
Jin
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Jing
J
Wang
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Yan
Y
Zhao
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Nicholas C
NC
Wu
School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Renate
R
Lux
School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Xuesong
X
He
School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Wenyuan
W
Shi
Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Fuquan
F
Hu
D000818:Animals; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000502:physiology*; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D000073718:Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D017384:Sequence Deletion
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D000073718:Pancreatitis-Associated Proteins; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C000612141:REG3A protein, human