A Novel Inducible Prophage from <i>Burkholderia vietnamiensis</i> G4 Is Widely Distributed across the Species and Has Lytic Activity against Pathogenic <i>Burkholderia</i>
Rebecca Weiser | Zhong Ling Yap | Ashley Otter | Brian V. Jones | Jonathan Salvage | Julian Parkhill | Eshwar Mahenthiralingam
<i>Burkholderia</i> species have environmental, industrial and medical significance, and are important opportunistic pathogens in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). Using a combination of existing and newly determined genome sequences, this study investigated prophage carriage across the species <i>B. vietnamiensis</i>, and also isolated spontaneously inducible prophages from a reference strain, G4. Eighty-one <i>B. vietnamiensis</i> genomes were bioinformatically screened for prophages using PHASTER (Phage Search Tool Enhanced Release) and prophage regions were found to comprise up to 3.4% of total genetic material. Overall, 115 intact prophages were identified and there was evidence of polylysogeny in 32 strains. A novel, inducible Mu-like phage (vB_BvM-G4P1) was isolated from <i>B. vietnamiensis</i> G4 that had lytic activity against strains of five <i>Burkholderia</i> species prevalent in CF infections, including the Boston epidemic <i>B. dolosa</i> strain SLC6. The cognate prophage to vB_BvM-G4P1 was identified in the lysogen genome and was almost identical (>93.5% tblastx identity) to prophages found in 13 other <i>B. vietnamiensis</i> strains (17% of the strain collection). Phylogenomic analysis determined that the G4P1-like prophages were widely distributed across the population structure of <i>B. vietnamiensis</i>. This study highlights how genomic characterization of <i>Burkholderia</i> prophages can lead to the discovery of novel bacteriophages with potential therapeutic or biotechnological applications.
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