title: Genomic analysis of Staphylococcus phage Stau2 isolated from medical specimen.
abstract: Stau2 is a lytic myophage of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from medical specimen. Exhibiting a broad host range against S. aureus clinical isolates, Stau2 is potentially useful for topical phage therapy or as an additive in food preservation. In this study, Stau2 was firstly revealed to possess a circularly permuted linear genome of 133,798 bp, with low G + C content, containing 146 open reading frames, but encoding no tRNA. The genome is organized into several modules containing genes for packaging, structural proteins, replication/transcription and host-cell-lysis, with the structural proteins and DNA polymerase modules being organized similarly to that in Twort-like phages of Staphylococcus. With the encoded DNA replication genes, Stau2 can possibly use its own system for replication. In addition, analysis in silico found several introns in seven genes, including those involved in DNA metabolism, packaging, and structure, while one of them (helicase gene) is experimentally confirmed to undergo splicing. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis suggested Stau2 to be most closely related to Staphylococcus phages SA11 and Remus, members of Twort-like phages. The results of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed 14 structural proteins of Stau2 and N-terminal sequencing identified three of them. Importantly, this phage does not encode any proteins which are known or suspected to be involved in toxicity, pathogenicity, or antibiotic resistance. Therefore, further investigations of feasible therapeutic application of Stau2 are needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, 406, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sue-Er
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, 970, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yi-Hsiung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, 406, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsueh-Hsia
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics Department, Nantou Hospital, Department of Health, Nantou, 540, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shui-Tu
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, 406, Taiwan. cnwu@ctust.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Cheng-Nan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3566-008X
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D005814:Genes, Viral; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D013204:Staphylococcus Phages / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000821:virology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: Phage genome; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus phage