Yunnan Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Control and Prevention, Yunnan Institute for Endemic Disease Control and Prevention, Dali, 671000, China.
Yunnan Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Control and Prevention, Yunnan Institute for Endemic Disease Control and Prevention, Dali, 671000, China.
Virus Res. 2024 Aug;346:199395. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2024.199395. Epub 2024 May 30.
The plague, caused by Yersinia pestis, is a natural focal disease and the presence of Y. pestis in the environment is a critical ecological concern worldwide. The role of Y. pestis phages in the ecological life cycle of the plague is crucial. Previously, a temperature-sensitive phage named vB_YpM_HQ103 was isolated from plague foci in Yunnan province, China. Upon infecting the EV76 strain of Y. pestis, vB_YpM_HQ103 exhibits lysogenic behavior at 21 °C and lytic behavior at 37 °C. Various methods including continuous passage lysogenic tests, in vitro lysis tests, comparative genomic assays, fluorescence quantitative PCR and receptor identification tests were employed to demonstrate that the lysogenic life cycle of this phage is applicable to wild Y. pestis strains; its lysogeny is pseudolysogenic (carrying but not integrating), allowing it to replicate and proliferate within Y. pestis. Furthermore, we have identified the outer membrane protein OmpA of Y. pestis as the receptor for phage infection. In conclusion, our research provides insight into the characteristics and receptors of a novel Y. pestis phage infection with a pseudolysogenic cycle. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of Y. pestis phages and plague microecology, offering valuable insights for future studies on the conservation and genetic evolution of Y. pestis in nature.
鼠疫由鼠疫耶尔森菌引起，是一种自然焦点疾病，环境中存在鼠疫耶尔森菌是全球范围内一个关键的生态关注点。鼠疫耶尔森菌噬菌体在鼠疫的生态生命周期中起着至关重要的作用。先前，从中国云南省的鼠疫疫源地分离到一种温度敏感型噬菌体，命名为 vB_YpM_HQ103。在感染 EV76 株鼠疫耶尔森菌时，vB_YpM_HQ103 在 21°C 时表现为溶原性行为，在 37°C 时表现为裂解性行为。通过连续传代溶原试验、体外裂解试验、比较基因组分析、荧光定量 PCR 和受体识别试验等多种方法，证明了该噬菌体的溶原性生命周期适用于野生型鼠疫耶尔森菌菌株；其溶原性是伪溶原性（携带但不整合），使其能够在鼠疫耶尔森菌内复制和增殖。此外，我们还鉴定出鼠疫耶尔森菌的外膜蛋白 OmpA 是噬菌体感染的受体。总之，我们的研究深入了解了一种新型鼠疫耶尔森菌噬菌体感染具有伪溶原性周期的特征和受体。这项研究的结果增强了我们对鼠疫耶尔森菌噬菌体和鼠疫微生态学的认识，为未来研究自然界中鼠疫耶尔森菌的保护和遗传进化提供了有价值的见解。
