Isolation and characterization of an extremely long tail Thermus bacteriophage from Tengchong hot springs in China

Abstract

Thermus strains are regarded as models to investigate the mechanism of thermostability of thermophiles, and phages from Thermus are particularly interesting because of their way to regulate gene expression. In this research, a Thermus bacteriophage named TSP4 (Thermus Siphoviridae phage) was isolated from Tengchong hot springs in China, and characteristics of morphology, temperature for phage production, pH and organic solvent sensitivity, DNA restriction endonuclease digestion and protein composition of TSP4 were further studied. TSP4 belonged to the Siphoviridae family and had a hexagonal head of 73 nm in diameter, an extremely long and flexible tail of 785 nm in length and 10 nm in width. TSP4 was very stable at 65 °C and pH 7.6. The capsid was apparently devoid of lipid. By SDS-PAGE, six protein bands were found in purified virions. Despite their exceptional habitats separated by thousands of kilometers, the characteristics of this thermophilic phage showed high similarity to Thermus siphoviruses P23-45 and P74-26 isolated from Kamchatka peninsula hot springs in the Far East, Russia.

A review of the microbiology of the Rehai geothermal field in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China

“…Two phage infecting Thermus host strains have been described in the literature, with both belonging to the family Siphoviridae. Thermus Siphoviridae phage 4 (TSP4) and TSP10 are both lytic phage isolated on the basis of plaque formation on lawns of uncharacterized Thermus strains Lin et al, 2010). TSP4 and TSP10 have naked (no envelope) icosahedral heads of 73 nm and 67 nm diameter, respectively, and exceptionally long tails reaching 785 nm and 837 nm in length and 10 nm in diameter.…”

Implications of free Shiga toxin-converting bacteriophages occurring outside bacteria for the evolution and the detection of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli

“…Certain morphologies can be considered more persistent than others, tailed phages being the ones showing higher persistence (Muniesa et al, 1999; Prigent et al, 2005; Lin et al, 2010). Notably, these are the most abundant in different water environments (Prigent et al, 2005; Lin et al, 2010).…”

“…Notably, these are the most abundant in different water environments (Prigent et al, 2005; Lin et al, 2010). Stx phages mostly belong to the Siphoviridae and Podoviridae morphological types (Rietra et al, 1989; Muniesa et al, 2004a,b; Beutin et al, 2012), showing similar persistence to that of other groups of phages (Muniesa et al, 1999; Dumke et al, 2006; Allué-Guardia et al, 2014) and higher persistence than STEC (Muniesa et al, 1999; Mauro and Koudelka, 2011; Rode et al, 2011; Allué-Guardia et al, 2014).…”

The influence of external factors on bacteriophages—review

“…They can be found in all environments where bacteria grow: in the Sahara, hot springs, the North Sea, and polar inland waters (Prigent et al 2005; Lin et al 2010; Breitbart et al 2004; Wichels et al 1998; Säwström et al 2008). Phages are detected in ground and surface water, soil, food (e.g., sauerkraut, wine), sewage, and sludge (Lucena et al 2006; Yoon et al 2002; Davis et al 1985; Kumari et al 2010; Tartera and Jofre 1987).…”