FepA- and TonB-Dependent Bacteriophage H8: Receptor Binding and Genomic Sequence

Abstract

H8 is derived from a collection of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis bacteriophage. Its morphology and genomic structure closely resemble those of bacteriophage T5 in the family Siphoviridae. H8 infected S. enterica serotypes Enteritidis and Typhimurium and Escherichia coli by initial adsorption to the outer membrane protein FepA. Ferric enterobactin inhibited H8 binding to E. coli FepA (50% inhibition concentration, 98 nM), and other ferric catecholate receptors (Fiu, Cir, and IroN) did not participate in phage adsorption. H8 infection was TonB dependent, but exbB mutations in Salmonella or E. coli did not prevent infection; only exbB tolQ or exbB tolR double mutants were resistant to H8. Experiments with deletion and substitution mutants showed that the receptor-phage interaction first involves residues distributed over the protein's outer surface and then narrows to the same charged (R316) or aromatic (Y260) residues that participate in the binding and transport of ferric enterobactin and colicins B and D. These data rationalize the multifunctionality of FepA: toxic ligands like bacteriocins and phage penetrate the outer membrane by parasitizing residues in FepA that are adapted to the transport of the natural ligand, ferric enterobactin. DNA sequence determinations revealed the complete H8 genome of 104.4 kb. A total of 120 of its 143 predicted open reading frames (ORFS) were homologous to ORFS in T5, at a level of 84% identity and 89% similarity. As in T5, the H8 structural genes clustered on the chromosome according to their function in the phage life cycle. The T5 genome contains a large section of DNA that can be deleted and that is absent in H8: compared to T5, H8 contains a 9,000-bp deletion in the early region of its chromosome, and nine potentially unique gene products. Sequence analyses of the tail proteins of phages in the same family showed that relative to pb5 (Oad) of T5 and Hrs of BF23, the FepA-binding protein (Rbp) of H8 contains unique acidic and aromatic residues. These side chains may promote binding to basic and aromatic residues in FepA that normally function in the adsorption of ferric enterobactin. Furthermore, a predicted H8 tail protein showed extensive identity and similarity to pb2 of T5, suggesting that it also functions in pore formation through the cell envelope. The variable region of this protein contains a potential TonB box, intimating that it participates in the TonB-dependent stage of the phage infection process.Bacteriophage adsorb to components of the gram-negative bacterial outer membrane (OM) during the initial stages of their infectious processes (17,20,36,37,64,87,88,98). For example, phages Mu (84) and X174 (41) initially bind to lipopolysaccharide, whereas (95), T6 (86), and TLS (30) adsorb to the OM proteins LamB, Tsx, and TolC, respectively. T2 (53) and T4 (92, 102) utilize both lipopolysaccharide and surface proteins in their adsorption reactions. The surface receptor proteins are porins that nonspecifically (70, 71) or specifically (55, 56, 69) transport...

A Topological Model of the Baseplate of Lactococcal Phage Tuc2009

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Naturally resident and exogenously applied T4-like and T5-like bacteriophages can reduceEscherichia coliO157

“…[52][53][54] We found that CEV2, like T5, does not require an energized membrane or the presence of TonB. [55][56][57] Our finding that CEV2 is a close relative of T5 is advantageous; T5-like phages are exclusively lytic and none have been found to encode pathogenicity islands, virulence/antibiotic resistance genes or integrases. 49,58 To our knowledge, CEV2 is the first T5-like phage to be isolated that infects E. coli O157:H7.…”

Mutations in the ExbB Cytoplasmic Carboxy Terminus Prevent Energy-Dependent Interaction between the TonB and ExbD Periplasmic Domains

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