Elsevier

Virology

Volume 483, September 2015, Pages 64-71
Virology

Prevalence of Pf1-like (pro)phage genetic elements among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virol.2015.04.008Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Pf1-like prophages in P. aeruginosa sequenced genomes were defined and analyzed.

  • Prevalence of Pf1-like genetic element was examined among 241 strains by PCR.

  • More than half of the strains contained at least one Pf1-like genetic element (60%).

  • Beside universal, most frequent specific element was Pf4, followed by Pf1 and Pf5.

  • Supernatants of some strains with only universal or Pf4 element were infective.

Abstract

Pf1-like bacteriophages (family Inoviridae) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa can contribute to bacterial short term evolution and virulence. Here we examine Pf1-like (pro)phage diversity and prevalence among different P. aeruginosa isolates. Pf1-like prophages in sequenced genomes of P. aeruginosa were analyzed and grouped into four clades: Pf4, Pf5, Pf7 and Pf-LES. P. aeruginosa strains (n=241) were screened for the presence of universal (primers PfUa and PfUb) and specific Pf1-like genetic elements (Pf1, Pf4 and Pf5). More than half of the strains contained at least one Pf1-like genetic element (60%); universal elements were detected in 56% of the strains, Pf4 in 22%, Pf1 in 18% and Pf5 in 7%. Infectivity experiments confirmed that strains yielding PCR products with either universal or Pf4 specific primers can release infective virions. Based on the high prevalence of Pf1-like (pro)phages, it is necessary to further examine their involvement in P. aeruginosa virulence.

Keywords

Pf1-like phage
Pseudomonas aeruginosa prophage
Prevalence

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GenBank[/EMBL/DDBJ] accession numbers for Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pf1-like (pro)phage partial sequences reported in this paper are: KM975442-KM975473.