Transposable Prophages in Leptospira: An Ancient, Now Diverse, Group Predominant in Causative Agents of Weil's Disease.

ABSTRACT: The virome associated with the corkscrew shaped bacterium Leptospira, responsible for Weil's disease, is scarcely known, and genetic tools available for these bacteria remain limited. To reduce these two issues, potential transposable prophages were searched in Leptospiraceae genomes. The 236 predicted transposable prophages were particularly abundant in the most pathogenic leptospiral clade, being potentially involved in the acquisition of virulent traits. According to genomic similarities and phylogenies, these prophages are distantly related to known transposable phages and are organized into six groups, one of them encompassing prophages with unusual TA-TA ends. Interestingly, structural and transposition proteins reconstruct different relationships between groups, suggesting an

SUBMITTER: Olo Ndela E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8705779 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature