Dataset Information

Prevalence, genetic diversity, and host range of tectiviruses among members of the Bacillus cereus group.

ABSTRACT: GIL01, Bam35, GIL16, AP50, and Wip1 are tectiviruses preying on the Bacillus cereus group. Despite the significant contributions of phages in different biological processes, little is known about the dealings taking place between tectiviruses and their Gram-positive bacterial hosts. Therefore, this work focuses on characterizing the interactions between tectiviruses and the B. cereus group by assessing their occurrence and genetic diversity and evaluating their host range. To study the occurrence of tectiviruses in the B. cereus group, 2,000 isolates were evaluated using primers designed to be specific to two variable regions detected in previously described elements. PCR and propagation tests revealed that tectivirus-like elements occurred in less than 3% of the isolates. Regardless of this limited distribution, several novel tectiviruses were found, and partial DNA sequencing indicated that a greater diversity exists within the family Tectiviridae. Analyses of the selected variable regions, along with their host range, showed that tectiviruses in the B. cereus group can be clustered mainly into two different groups: the ones infecting B. anthracis and those isolated from other B. cereus group members. In order to address the host range of some novel tectiviruses, 120 strains were tested for sensitivity. The results showed that all the tested tectiviruses produced lysis in at least one B. cereus sensu lato strain. Moreover, no simple relationship between the infection patterns of the tectiviruses and their diversity was found.

SUBMITTER: Gillis A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4068676 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Prevalence, genetic diversity, and host range of tectiviruses among members of the Bacillus cereus group.

Gillis Annika A Mahillon Jacques J

Applied and environmental microbiology 20140502 14

GIL01, Bam35, GIL16, AP50, and Wip1 are tectiviruses preying on the Bacillus cereus group. Despite the significant contributions of phages in different biological processes, little is known about the dealings taking place between tectiviruses and their Gram-positive bacterial hosts. Therefore, this work focuses on characterizing the interactions between tectiviruses and the B. cereus group by assessing their occurrence and genetic diversity and evaluating their host range. To study the occurrenc ...[more]

PMID: 24795369

Similar Datasets

Project description:In this study, five keratinolytic bacteria were isolated from poultry farm waste of Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The highest keratinase activity was obtained at 40-45 °C, pH 8-9, feather concentration 0.5-1%, and using white chicken feather as keratin substrate for 72 h. Enhancement of keratinase activity through physical mutagen UV radiation and/or chemical mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) resulted in five mutants with 1.51-3.73-fold increased activity over the wild type. When compared with the wild type, scanning electron microscopy validated the mutants' effectiveness in feather degradation. Bacterial isolates are classified as members of the S8 family peptidase Bacillus cereus group based on sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA and keratinase genes. Interestingly, keratinase KerS gene shared 95.5-100% identity to keratinase, thermitase alkaline serine protease, and thermophilic serine protease of the B. cereus group. D137N substitution was observed in the keratinase KerS gene of the mutant strain S13 (KerS13uv+ems), and also seven substitution variations in KerS26 and KerS26uv of strain S26 and its mutant S26uv. Functional analysis revealed that the subtilisin-like serine protease domain containing the Asp/His/Ser catalytic triad of KerS gene was not affected by the predicted substitutions. Prediction of physicochemical properties of KerS gene showed instability index between 17.5-19.3 and aliphatic index between 74.7-75.7, which imply keratinase stability and significant thermostability. The docking studies revealed the impact of substitutions on the superimposed structure and an increase in binding of mutant D137N of KerS13uv+ems (affinity: -7.17; S score: -6.54 kcal/mol) and seven mutants of KerS26uv (affinity: -7.43; S score: -7.17 kcal/mol) compared to the wild predicted structure (affinity: -6.57; S score: -6.68 kcal/mol). Together, the keratinolytic activity, similarity to thermostable keratinases, and binding affinity suggest that keratinases KerS13uv+ems and KerS26uv could be used for feather processing in the industry.

Dataset Information

Prevalence, genetic diversity, and host range of tectiviruses among members of the Bacillus cereus group.

Publications

Prevalence, genetic diversity, and host range of tectiviruses among members of the Bacillus cereus group.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets