A Novel Broad Host Range Phage Infecting <i>Alteromonas</i>
Xuejin Feng,
Wei Yan,
Anan Wang,
Ruijie Ma,
Xiaowei Chen,
Ta-Hui Lin,
Yi-Lung Chen,
Shuzhen Wei,
Tao Jin,
Nianzhi Jiao,
Rui Zhang
Affiliations
Xuejin Feng
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Wei Yan
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Anan Wang
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Ruijie Ma
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Xiaowei Chen
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Ta-Hui Lin
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Yi-Lung Chen
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Shuzhen Wei
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Tao Jin
Guangzhou Magigene Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 510000, China
Nianzhi Jiao
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Rui Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China
Bacteriophages substantially contribute to bacterial mortality in the ocean and play critical roles in global biogeochemical processes. Alteromonas is a ubiquitous bacterial genus in global tropical and temperate waters, which can cross-protect marine cyanobacteria and thus has important ecological benefits. However, little is known about the biological and ecological features of Alteromonas phages (alterophages). Here, we describe a novel alterophage vB_AmeP-R8W (R8W), which belongs to the Autographiviridae family and infects the deep-clade Alteromonas mediterranea. R8W has an equidistant and icosahedral head (65 ± 1 nm in diameter) and a short tail (12 ± 2 nm in length). The genome size of R8W is 48,825 bp, with a G + C content of 40.55%. R8W possesses three putative auxiliary metabolic genes encoding proteins involved in nucleotide metabolism and DNA binding: thymidylate synthase, nucleoside triphosphate pyrophosphohydrolase, and PhoB. R8W has a rapid lytic cycle with a burst size of 88 plaque-forming units/cell. Notably, R8W has a wide host range, such that it can infect 35 Alteromonas strains; it exhibits a strong specificity for strains isolated from deep waters. R8W has two specific receptor binding proteins and a compatible holin–endolysin system, which contribute to its wide host range. The isolation of R8W will contribute to the understanding of alterophage evolution, as well as the phage–host interactions and ecological importance of alterophages.
