The Staphylococci Phages Family: An Overview

Abstract

Due to their crucial role in pathogenesis and virulence, phages of Staphylococcus aureus have been extensively studied. Most of them encode and disseminate potent staphylococcal virulence factors. In addition, their movements contribute to the extraordinary versatility and adaptability of this prominent pathogen by improving genome plasticity. In addition to S. aureus, phages from coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) are gaining increasing interest. Some of these species, such as S. epidermidis, cause nosocomial infections and are therefore problematic for public health. This review provides an overview of the staphylococcal phages family extended to CoNS phages. At the morphological level, all these phages characterized so far belong to the Caudovirales order and are mainly temperate Siphoviridae. At the molecular level, comparative genomics revealed an extensive mosaicism, with genes organized into functional modules that are frequently exchanged between phages. Evolutionary relationships within this family, as well as with other families, have been highlighted. All these aspects are of crucial importance for our understanding of evolution and emergence of pathogens among bacterial species such as Staphylococci.

Intragenus generalized transduction in Staphylococcus spp. by a novel giant phage

“…Phage S6 was shown to belong to the family Myoviridae with a genome size of ca. 270 kbp (Andrew et al, 2011;Deghorain and Van Melderen, 2012;Figures 1a and b and Supplementary Table S2). Uracil was used as a nucleic acid base instead of thymine in the DNA of phage S6 (Supplementary Figure S1).…”

Identification of virulence genes carried by bacteriophages obtained from clinically isolated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

“…To date, more than 68 Staphylococci phages and prophages' sequences, mainly from S. aureus, are identified [5].…”

“…S. aureus can produce more than 30 different extracellular proteins [1]. Most of them have been described and characterized, such as the staphylokinase (SAK), the chemotaxis inhibitory protein (CHIP), the staphylococcal inhibitor of complement (SCIN), and several superantigens including SEA, SEG, SEK, SEP, and SEQ [5,6]. These superantigens are enterotoxin.…”

“…All S. aureus genomes sequenced so far do contain at least one prophage, and many strains contain up to four [5]. These encode numerous staphylococcal toxins responsible for pathogenesis [8,9].…”

Physiology and Pathology of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: Phage-Related Therapy

“…Thus, MRSA pathogens can be targeted by the anti-S. aureus phages such as phage K and φMR11 [34,40]. φMR11, administrated intraperitoneally, appeared rapidly in the circulation of mice challenged with fatal S. aureus infection and successfully protected mice without any adverse effects [34].…”