Detection and Characterization of Protein Methylation in Bacteriophages and Their Host, Cellulophaga baltica, During Infection

ABSTRACT: Bacteria and their viruses (bacteriophages or phages) are in a dynamic arms race that balances predation and resistance, each deploying various strategies, including protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), to achieve dominance. To better understand the role PTMs play in phage infection, we infected Cellulophaga baltica bacteria with three previously characterized phages that represent diverse genomes and infection efficiencies (phi18:1, phi18:4, and phi38:1) to identify proteome-wide and protein-specific trends of PTMs. Approximately double the number of methylated residues on proteins were detected in phage-infected cells (virocells) compared to uninfected cells, and significantly increased frequencies of protein methylation were observed during the early stages of infection. This notable result led to a focus on protein methylation. Phage proteins were detectably methylated in both virocells and free virions, neither of which has been previously reported. Host proteins with known importance to phage infection--including GTPase EF-Tu, chaperone DnaK, and gliding motility proteins--were frequently methylated and/or exhibited methylation patterns in virocells that contrasted those in uninfected cells. Collectively, our results expand on the growing interest of the important role PTMs play in phage infection by demonstrating the dynamic methylation of phage proteins as well as host proteins important to phage infection.

INSTRUMENT(S): Q Exactive Plus

ORGANISM(S): Cellulophaga Baltica (ncbitaxon:76594) Cellulophaga Baltica Phage Phi18:4 Cellulophaga Baltica Phage Phi18:1 Cellulophaga Baltica Phage Phi38:1

SUBMITTER: Dr. Robert Hettich  

PROVIDER: MSV000098485 | MassIVE | Fri Jul 11 13:57:00 BST 2025

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PXD066074

REPOSITORIES: MassIVE