Phage Adsorption to Gram-Positive Bacteria

Abstract

The phage life cycle is a multi-stage process initiated by the recognition and attachment of the virus to its bacterial host. This adsorption step depends on the specific interaction between bacterial structures acting as receptors and viral proteins called Receptor Binding Proteins (RBP). The adsorption process is essential as it is the first determinant of phage host range and a sine qua non condition for the subsequent conduct of the life cycle. In phages belonging to the Caudoviricetes class, the capsid is attached to a tail, which is the central player in the adsorption as it comprises the RBP and accessory proteins facilitating phage binding and cell wall penetration prior to genome injection. The nature of the viral proteins involved in host adhesion not only depends on the phage morphology (i.e., myovirus, siphovirus, or podovirus) but also the targeted host. Here, we give an overview of the adsorption process and compile the available information on the type of receptors that can be recognized and the viral proteins taking part in the process, with the primary focus on phages infecting Gram-positive bacteria.

Systematic classification of phage receptor-binding proteins predicts surface glycopolymer structure inStaphylococcuspathogens

“…S. aureus phages use RBPs to bind WTA and attach specifically to their host cells (Leprince & Mahillon, 2023), thereby targeting a vital pathogenicity factor, whose glycosylation pattern (“glycocode”) is known to differ among strains of S. aureus (Brown et al, 2013; van Dalen et al, 2020). This study elucidates the binding pattern of many different staphylococcal phages by assessing the binding of fluorescently labelled RBPs and correlating these to the phage infectivity and the presence of the RboP WTA biosynthesis encoding gene cluster tarIJL in the host-strain genomes.…”

“…Furthermore, alteration of wall teichoic acid (WTA) polymers, can protect from phage infection. While phages of other bacterial groups often use different receptors on host cells such as lipopolysaccharides or membrane proteins (Leprince & Mahillon, 2023), phages of staphylococci appear to use only one receptor, the peptidoglycan-linked WTA polymer consisting of ribitol-phosphate (RboP) repeats (Weidenmaier & Peschel, 2008; Xia et al, 2011).…”

Bacteriophage Challenges in Industrial Processes: A Historical Unveiling and Future Outlook

“…The infection of bacteria cells by phages follows lysogenic and/or lytic mechanisms. In the lytic cycle, phages adsorb on the surface of bacterial cells using receptor-binding proteins (RPBs) [ 6 ]. Then, the phage introduces its genome into the host cell.…”

Transcriptome analysis of the response of Lactiplantibacillus plantarumIMAU10120 to infection by phage P2

“…2017). Phages attach to the surface of host cells, inject viral DNA into host cells and start their lytic cycle (Leprince and Mahillon 2023). They are obligate parasites as they not only depend on the host's replication machinery but also specifically utilise the ribosome‐mediated translation machinery of their host to produce new virus particles, and then release them through lysis of the host cell, resulting in cell death (Federici et al .…”