Detailed genomic analysis of the Wbeta and gamma phages infecting Bacillus anthracis: implications for evolution of environmental fitness and antibiotic resistance.

ABSTRACT: Phage-mediated lysis has been an essential laboratory tool for rapidly identifying Bacillus anthracis for more than 40 years, relying on the gamma phage derivative of a Bacillus cereus prophage called W. The complete genomic sequences of the temperate W phage, referred to as Wbeta, and its lytic variant gamma were determined and found to encode 53 open reading frames each, spanning 40,864 bp and 37,373 bp, respectively. Direct comparison of the genomes showed that gamma evolved through mutations at key loci controlling host recognition, lysogenic growth, and possibly host phenotypic modification. Included are a cluster of point mutations at the gp14 tail fiber locus of gamma, encoding a protein that, when fused to green fluorescent protein, binds specifically to B. anthracis. A large 2,003

SUBMITTER: Schuch R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1446989 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature