Detailed Genomic Analysis of the Wβ and γ Phages Infecting Bacillus anthracis: Implications for Evolution of Environmental Fitness and Antibiotic Resistance

摘要

Phage-mediated lysis has been an essential laboratory tool for rapidly identifying Bacillus anthracis for more than 40 years, relying on the γ phage derivative of a Bacillus cereus prophage called W. The complete genomic sequences of the temperate W phage, referred to as Wβ, and its lytic variant γ were determined and found to encode 53 open reading frames each, spanning 40,864 bp and 37,373 bp, respectively. Direct comparison of the genomes showed that γ evolved through mutations at key loci controlling host recognition, lysogenic growth, and possibly host phenotypic modification. Included are a cluster of point mutations at the gp14 tail fiber locus of γ, encoding a protein that, when fused to green fluorescent protein, binds specifically to B. anthracis. A large 2,003-bp deletion was also identified at the γ lysogeny module, explaining its shift from a temperate to a lytic lifestyle. Finally, evidence of recombination was observed at a dicistronic Wβ locus, encoding putative bacterial cell surface-modifying proteins, replaced in γ with a locus, likely obtained from a B. anthracis prophage, encoding demonstrable fosfomycin resistance. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis confirmed strong induction at the dicistronic Wβ locus and at four other phage loci in B. anthracis and/or B. cereus lysogens. In all, this study represents the first genomic and functional description of two historically important phages and is part of a broader investigation into contributions of phage to the B. anthracis life cycle. Initial findings suggest that lysogeny of B. anthracis promotes ecological adaptation, rather than virulence, as with other gram-positive pathogens.