A small bacteriophage protein determines the hierarchy over co-residential jumbo phage in Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis

Pavlin, Anja (author), Lovše, Anže (author), Bajc, Gregor (author), Otoničar, Jan (author), Kujović, Amela (author), Lengar, Živa (author), Gutiérrez-Aguirre, Ion (author), Kostanjšek, Rok (author), Konc, Janez (author), Fornelos, Nadine (author), Butala, Matej (author)

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis is the most widely used biopesticide against insects, including vectors of animal and human diseases. Among several extrachromosomal elements, this endospore-forming entomopathogen harbors two bacteriophages: a linear DNA replicon named GIL01 that does not integrate into the chromosome during lysogeny and a circular-jumbo prophage known as pBtic235. Here, we show that GIL01 hinders the induction of cohabiting prophage pBtic235. The GIL01-encoded small protein, gp7, which interacts with the host LexA repressor, is a global transcription regulator and represses the induction of pBtic235 after DNA damage to presumably allow GIL01 to multiply first. In a complex with host LexA in stressed cells, gp7 down-regulates the expression of more than 250 host and pBtic235 genes, many of which are involved in the cellular functions of genome maintenance, cell-wall transport, and membrane and protein stability. We show that gp7 homologs that are found exclusively in bacteriophages act in a similar fashion to enhance LexA’s binding to DNA, while likely also affecting host gene expression. Our results provide evidence that GIL01 influences both its host and its co-resident bacteriophage.

• Language: English
• Keywords: bacteriophages, DNA damage, DNA repair
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 12 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 5, art. 1286
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-154019
• UDC: 579.6
• ISSN on article: 2399-3642
• DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04238-3
• COBISS.SI-ID: 132540419
• Publication date in RUL: 19.01.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Communications biology
• Shortened title: Commun. biolog.
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• ISSN: 2399-3642
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5134671

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: bakteriofagi, Bacillus thuringiensis, odziv SOS, profagi