A Type 3 Prophage of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ Carrying a Restriction-Modification System


Citation
Zheng et al. (2018). Phytopathology® 108 (4)
Names (1)
Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus
Subjects
Agronomy and Crop Science Plant Science
Abstract
Prophages, the lysogenic form of bacterial phages, are important genetic entities of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (CLas), a nonculturable α-proteobacterium associated with citrus Huanglongbing. Two CLas prophages have been described, SC1 (NC_019549.1, Type 1) and SC2 (NC_019550.1, Type 2), which involve the lytic cycle and the lysogenic cycle, respectively. To explore the prophage repertoire, 523 CLas DNA samples extracted from leaf petioles of CLas-infected citrus were collected from southern China and surveyed for Type 1 and Type 2 prophages by specific PCR. Eighteen samples were found lacking both prophages. One sample, JXGC, sequenced using Illumina HiSeq, generated >100 million short sequence reads (150 bp per read). Read mapping to known prophage sequences showed a sequence coverage of 46% to SC1 and 50% to SC2. BLAST search using SC1 and SC2 as queries identified three contigs from the JXGC de novo assembly that form a circular P-JXGC-3 (31,449 bp), designated as a new Type 3 prophage. Chromosomal integration of P-JXGC-3 was detected to occur within a helicase gene, resulting in a duplication of this gene. P-JXGC-3 had 36 open reading frames (ORFs), 10 of which were not found in Type 1 or Type 2 prophages, including four genes that encoded a restriction-modification (R-M) system (hsdR, hsdS, hsdM1, and hsdM2). Typed by prophage-specific PCR, the CLas strains in southern China contained all combinations of the three prophage types with the exception of a Type 2−Type 3 combination, suggesting active ongoing prophage−phage interactions. Based on gene annotation, P-JXGC-3 is not capable of reproduction via the lytic cycle. The R-M system was speculated to play a role against Type 1 prophage−phage invasion.
Authors
Publication date
2018-04-01
DOI
10.1094/phyto-08-17-0282-r