Pseudomonas Phage MD8: Genetic Mosaicism and Challenges of Taxonomic Classification of Lambdoid Bacteriophages

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Marsel Kabilov¹  Alexander Bondar¹  Valentin Drucker²  Anna Gorshkova²  Anna Lukianova³  Peter Evseev³  Nina Sykilinda³  Mikhail Shneider³  Konstantin Miroshnikov³ 

[1] Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia;Limnological Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 664033 Irkutsk, Russia;Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117997 Moscow, Russia;

关键词: viral genomics;    lambda-like phages;    Pseudomonas phages;    viral taxonomy;    bacteriophage evolution;    genetic mosaicism;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms221910350

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Pseudomonas phage MD8 is a temperate phage isolated from the freshwater lake Baikal. The organisation of the MD8 genome resembles the genomes of lambdoid bacteriophages. However, MD8 gene and protein sequences have little in common with classified representatives of lambda-like phages. Analysis of phage genomes revealed a group of other Pseudomonas phages related to phage MD8 and the genomic layout of MD8-like phages indicated extensive gene exchange involving even the most conservative proteins and leading to a high degree of genomic mosaicism. Multiple horizontal transfers and mosaicism of the genome of MD8, related phages and other λ-like phages raise questions about the principles of taxonomic classification of the representatives of this voluminous phage group. Comparison and analysis of various bioinformatic approaches applied to λ-like phage genomes demonstrated different efficiency and contradictory results in the estimation of genomic similarity and relatedness. However, we were able to make suggestions for the possible origin of the MD8 genome and the basic principles for the taxonomic classification of lambdoid phages. The group comprising 26 MD8-related phages was proposed to classify as two close genera belonging to a big family of λ-like phages.

【 授权许可】

Unknown