Genetic engineering of marine cyanophages reveals integration but not lysogeny in T7-like cyanophages.

ABSTRACT: Marine cyanobacteria of the genera Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus are the most abundant photosynthetic organisms on earth, spanning vast regions of the oceans and contributing significantly to global primary production. Their viruses (cyanophages) greatly influence cyanobacterial ecology and evolution. Although many cyanophage genomes have been sequenced, insight into the functional role of cyanophage genes is limited by the lack of a cyanophage genetic engineering system. Here, we describe a simple, generalizable method for genetic engineering of cyanophages from multiple families, that we named REEP for REcombination, Enrichment and PCR screening. This method enables direct investigation of key cyanophage genes, and its simplicity makes it adaptable to other ecologically relevant host

SUBMITTER: Shitrit D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8776855 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature