Mycobacteriophage Mcgavigan Uses Noncanonical Bxb1-Like Repressor for Heterotypic Superinfection Immunity.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacteriophage Mcgavigan could be a promising candidate for use as a preventative agent against infections with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Bioinformatic analysis of the Mcgavigan genome revealed the presence of an operon containing a "Bxb1-like" repressor. The operon may have been acquired by the phage through horizontal gene transfer with a Bxb1-like mycobacteriophage in its evolutionary past. We sought to investigate the function of the acquired repressor as a potential regulator of lysogeny or as a source of heterotypic superinfection immunity. Recombineering with CRISPR counter-selection was employed to achieve a clean deletion of the Bxb1-like repressor from Mcgavigan's genome. Integrase was also deleted as a means of creating a lytic-only phage for comparison pur

SUBMITTER: Shafer N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12700041 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature