Beyond Cholera: Characterization of zot-Encoding Filamentous Phages in the Marine Fish Pathogen Vibrio anguillarum.

ABSTRACT: Zonula occludens toxin (Zot) is a conserved protein in filamentous vibriophages and has been reported as a putative toxin in Vibrio cholerae. Recently, widespread distribution of zot-encoding prophages was found among marine Vibrio species, including environmental isolates. However, little is known about the dynamics of these prophages beyond V. cholerae. In this study, we characterized and quantified the zot-encoding filamentous phage VAIϕ, spontaneously induced from the fish pathogen V. anguillarum. VAIϕ contained 6117 bp encoding 11 ORFs, including ORF8^pVAI, exhibiting 27%-73% amino acid identity to Inovirus Zot-like proteins. A qPCR method revealed an average of four VAIϕ genomes per host genome during host exponential growth

SUBMITTER: Mauritzen JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7412436 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature