TY - JOUR

T1 - Characterization and Abundance of Plasmid-Dependent Alphatectivirus Bacteriophages

AU - Parra, Boris

AU - Lutz, Veronika T.

AU - Brøndsted, Lone

AU - Carmona, Javiera L.

AU - Palomo, Alejandro

AU - Nesme, Joseph

AU - Van Hung Le, Vuong

AU - Smets, Barth F.

AU - Dechesne, Arnaud

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, exacerbated by the ability of bacteria to rapidly disseminate antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG). Since conjugative plasmids of the incompatibility group P (IncP) are ubiquitous mobile genetic elements that often carry ARG and are broad-host-range, they are important targets to prevent the dissemination of AMR. Plasmid-dependent phages infect plasmid-carrying bacteria by recognizing components of the conjugative secretion system as receptors. We sought to isolate plasmid-dependent phages from wastewater using an avirulent strain of Salmonella enterica carrying the conjugative IncP plasmid pKJK5. Irrespective of the site, we only obtained bacteriophages belonging to the genus Alphatectivirus. Eleven isolates were sequenced, their genomes analyzed, and their host range established using S. enterica, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas putida carrying diverse conjugative plasmids. We confirmed that Alphatectivirus are abundant in domestic and hospital wastewater using culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. However, these results are not consistent with their low or undetectable occurrence in metagenomes. Therefore, overall, our results emphasize the importance of performing phage isolation to uncover diversity, especially considering the potential of plasmid-dependent phages to reduce the spread of ARG carried by conjugative plasmids, and to help combat the AMR crisis.

AB - Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat, exacerbated by the ability of bacteria to rapidly disseminate antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG). Since conjugative plasmids of the incompatibility group P (IncP) are ubiquitous mobile genetic elements that often carry ARG and are broad-host-range, they are important targets to prevent the dissemination of AMR. Plasmid-dependent phages infect plasmid-carrying bacteria by recognizing components of the conjugative secretion system as receptors. We sought to isolate plasmid-dependent phages from wastewater using an avirulent strain of Salmonella enterica carrying the conjugative IncP plasmid pKJK5. Irrespective of the site, we only obtained bacteriophages belonging to the genus Alphatectivirus. Eleven isolates were sequenced, their genomes analyzed, and their host range established using S. enterica, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas putida carrying diverse conjugative plasmids. We confirmed that Alphatectivirus are abundant in domestic and hospital wastewater using culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. However, these results are not consistent with their low or undetectable occurrence in metagenomes. Therefore, overall, our results emphasize the importance of performing phage isolation to uncover diversity, especially considering the potential of plasmid-dependent phages to reduce the spread of ARG carried by conjugative plasmids, and to help combat the AMR crisis.

KW - Antimicrobial resistance

KW - Bacteria

KW - Bacteriophages

KW - Conjugation

KW - Horizontal gene transfer

KW - Plasmid

KW - Virus

U2 - 10.1007/s00248-024-02401-3

DO - 10.1007/s00248-024-02401-3

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38935220

AN - SCOPUS:85197202770

VL - 87

JO - Microbial Ecology

JF - Microbial Ecology

SN - 0095-3628

IS - 1

M1 - 85

ER -