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Site-specific recombination of T2 phage using IP008 long tail fiber genes provides a targeted method for expanding host range while retaining lytic activity

  1. Faezeh Mahichi1,
  2. Aidan John Synnott2,
  3. Keiko Yamamichi3,
  4. Toshiya Osada1,
  5. Yasunori Tanji2

Article first published online: 21 APR 2009

DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01588.x

Issue

FEMS Microbiology Letters

FEMS Microbiology Letters

Volume 295, Issue 2, pages 211–217, June 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Mahichi, F., Synnott, A. J., Yamamichi, K., Osada, T. and Tanji, Y. (2009), Site-specific recombination of T2 phage using IP008 long tail fiber genes provides a targeted method for expanding host range while retaining lytic activity. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 295: 211–217. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01588.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Life science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan

  2. 2

    Department of Bioengineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan; and

  3. 3

    Technical Department, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan

*Correspondence: Yasunori Tanji, Department of Bioengineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 J2-15 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503, Japan. Tel.: +81 45 924 5763; fax: +81 45 924 5818; e-mail: ytanji@bio.titech.ac.jp

  1. Editor: Wolfgang Schumann

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 15 MAY 2009
  2. Article first published online: 21 APR 2009
  3. Received 20 January 2009; accepted 16 March 2009.First published online 21 April 2009.

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Keywords:

  • T-even bacteriophage;
  • homologous recombination;
  • tail fiber adhesion;
  • host range

Abstract

The application of bacteriophages (phages) in therapy urgently requires the production of wide-host-range recombinant phages that possess strong lytic activity. The wide-host-range IP008 phage was classified by transmission electron microscopy analysis as an A2 morphotype member of the Myoviridae family of the order Caudovirales. IP008 showed a high homology (99.4% similarity in the amino acid alignment of the major capsid protein Gp 23) with KEP10, another wide-host-range phage. The long tail fiber genes (genes 37 and 38) from the genome of T2 were replaced with those of the IP008 phage by homologous recombination. The host range of the recombinant phages was identical to that of IP008. Furthermore, the recombinant phage bacterial lytic activity was restored. Future analyses of host-range mutants of the closely related phages T2 and IP008 could lead to a more precise localization of the genetic factors responsible for receptor specificity.

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