Detection, isolation and characterization of phage-host complexes using BONCAT and click chemistry

ABSTRACT: Phages are viruses that infect prokaryotes and can shape microbial communitiesby lysis, thus offering applications in various fields. However, challengesexist in sampling, isolation and accurate prediction of the host specificity ofphages as well as in the identification of newly replicated virions in response toenvironmental challenges. A new workflow using biorthogonal non-canonicalamino acid tagging (BONCAT) and click chemistry (CC) allowed combinedanalysis of phages and their hosts, the identification of newly replicated virions,and the specific tagging of phages with biotin for affinity chromatography.Replication of phage λ in Escherichia coli was selected as a model for workflowdevelopment. Specific labeling of phage λ proteins with the non-canonicalamino acid 4-azido-L-homoalanine (AHA) during phage development in E. coliwas confirmed by LC–MS/MS. Subsequent tagging of AHA with fluorescentdyes via CC allowed the visualization of phages adsorbed to the cell surfaceby fluorescence microscopy. Flow cytometry enabled the automated detectionof these fluorescent phage-host complexes. Alternatively, AHA-labeled phageswere tagged with biotin for purification by affinity chromatography. Despitebiotinylation the tagged phages could be purified and were infectious afterpurification. Applying this approach to environmental samples would enablehost screening without cultivation. A flexible and powerful workflow for thedetection and enrichment of phages and their hosts in pure cultures has beenestablished. The developed method lays the groundwork for future workflowsthat could enable the isolation of phage-host complexes from diverse complexmicrobial communities using fluorescence-activated cell sorting or biotinpurification. The ability to expand and customize the workflow through thegrowing range of compounds for CC offers the potential to develop a versatiletoolbox in phage research. This work provides a starting point for these furtherstudies by providing a comprehensive standard operating procedure.

INSTRUMENT(S): Bruker Daltonics timsTOF series

ORGANISM(S): Escherichia Phage Lambda

SUBMITTER: Patrick Hellwig  

LAB HEAD: Dirk Benndorf

PROVIDER: PXD044316 | Pride | 2024-08-29

REPOSITORIES: Pride