Prophage-Related Gene Contributes to Cell Membrane Integrity and Growth of CHN25.

is a leading seafood-borne pathogen that can cause acute gastroenteritis and even death in humans. In aquatic ecosystems, phages constantly transform bacterial communities by horizontal gene transfer. Nevertheless, biological functions of prophage-related genes in remain to be fully unveiled. Herein, for the first time, we studied one such gene encoding an unknown hypothetical protein in CHN25. This gene deletion mutant Δ was constructed by homologous recombination, and its complementary mutant Δ-com was also obtained. The Δ mutant exhibited a sever defect in growth and swimming motility particularly at lower temperatures. Biofilm formation and cytotoxicity capacity of CHN25 was significantly lowered in the absence of . Comparative secretomic analysis revealed an increase in extracellular proteins of Δ, which likely resulted from its damaged cell membrane. Comparison of transcriptome data showed twelve significantly altered metabolic pathways in Δ, suggesting inactive transport and utilization of carbon sources, repressed energy production and membrane biogenesis in . Comparative transcriptomic analysis also revealed several remarkably down-regulated key regulators in bacterial gene regulatory networks linked to the observed phenotypic variations. Overall, the results here facilitate better understanding of biological significance of prophage-related genes remaining in .