Identification of novel prophage regions in Xenorhabdus nematophila genome and gene expression analysis during phage-like particle induction

PeerJ

article

Emilie Lefoulon¹  Natalie Campbell¹  S. Patricia Stock¹ 

[1] School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, University of Arizona;College of Agriculture, California State University

关键词: Xenorhabdus nematophila;    Prophages;    Diversity;    Gene expression;    Induction;    Phage-like particle;    UV;    Mitomycin;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.12956

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background Entomopathogenic Xenorhabdus bacteria are endosymbionts of Steinernema nematodes and together they form an insecticidal mutualistic association that infects a wide range of insect species. Xenorhabdus produce an arsenal of toxins and secondary metabolites that kill the insect host. In addition, they can induce the production of diverse phage particles. A few studies have focused on one integrated phage responsible for producing a phage tail-like bacteriocin, associated with an antimicrobial activity against other Xenorhabdus species. However, very little is known about the diversity of prophage regions in Xenorhabdus species. Methods In the present study, we identified several prophage regions in the genome of Xenorhabdus nematophila AN6/1. We performed a preliminary study on the relative expression of genes in these prophage regions. We also investigated some genes (not contained in prophage region) known to be involved in SOS bacterial response (recA and lexA) associated with mitomycin C and UV exposure. Results We described two integrated prophage regions (designated Xnp3 and Xnp4) not previously described in the genome of Xenorhabdus nematophila AN6/1. The Xnp3 prophage region appears very similar to complete Mu-like bacteriophage. These prophages regions are not unique to X. nematophila species, although they appear less conserved among Xenorhabdus species when compared to the previously described p1 prophage region. Our results showed that mitomycin C exposure induced an up-regulation of recA and lexA suggesting activation of SOS response. In addition, mitomycin C and UV exposure seems to lead to up-regulation of genes in three of the four integrated prophages regions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY