CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2021 Mar 31;97(4). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiab029.
Bacteriophages (phages) are ubiquitous entities present in every conceivable habitat as a result of their bacterial parasitism. Their prevalence and impact in the ecology of bacterial communities and their ability to control pathogens make their characterization essential, particularly of new phages, improving knowledge and potential application. The isolation and characterization of a new lytic phage against Sphaerotilus natans strain DSM 6575, named vB_SnaP-R1 (SnaR1), is here described. Besides being the first sequenced genome of a Sphaerotilus natans infecting phage, 99% of its 41507 bp genome lacks homology with any other sequenced phage, revealing its uniqueness and previous lack of knowledge. Moreover, SnaR1 is the first Podoviridae phage described infecting this bacterium. Sphaerotilus natans is an important filamentous bacterium due to its deleterious effect on wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and thus, phages may play a role as novel biotechnological tools against filamentous overgrowth in WWTP. The lytic spectrum of SnaR1 was restricted to its host strain, infecting only one out of three S. natans strains and infection assays revealed its ability to reduce bacterial loads. Results suggest SnaR1 as the prototype of a new phage genus and demonstrates its potential as a non-chemical alternative to reduce S. natans DSM 6575 cells.
噬菌体（phages）是一种普遍存在的生物体，由于其细菌寄生特性，存在于每一个可以想象到的栖息地中。它们在细菌群落的生态中普遍存在且具有影响力，并且能够控制病原体，这使得对它们进行特征描述变得至关重要，特别是对于新的噬菌体，这可以增进我们的了解并可能带来潜在的应用。本文描述了一种针对鞘铁细菌（Sphaerotilus natans）DSM 6575 菌株的新型裂解噬菌体 vB_SnaP-R1（SnaR1）的分离和特征描述。除了是第一个测序的鞘铁细菌感染噬菌体基因组外，其 41507 bp 基因组的 99%与任何其他已测序的噬菌体都没有同源性，这揭示了其独特性和之前缺乏认知。此外，SnaR1 是第一个描述的感染这种细菌的 Podoviridae 噬菌体。鞘铁细菌是一种重要的丝状细菌，因为它对废水处理厂（WWTP）具有有害影响，因此，噬菌体可能作为一种新型生物技术工具在 WWTP 中丝状菌过度生长方面发挥作用。SnaR1 的裂解谱仅限于其宿主菌株，仅感染三种鞘铁细菌菌株中的一种，感染实验表明其能够降低细菌负荷。结果表明 SnaR1 是一种新型噬菌体属的原型，展示了其作为减少 DSM 6575 细胞的非化学替代物的潜力。
