Uncovering Novel Tectiviruses Preying On The Bacillus cereus Group And Their Impact On Their Hosts

Gillis, Annika;Mahillon, Jacques
(2015) The International Conference on Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensis (Bacillus-ACT 2015) — Location: New Delhi, India (27.October.2015)

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Tectiviridae is a rare phage family comprising non-enveloped tail-less phages, with a linear dsDNA located within a lipid-containing membrane, covered by a rigid icosahedral protein capsid. Several tectiviruses have been found infecting the Bacillus cereus group and they display the unique characteristic of behaving as linear plasmids during their lysogenic cycle. Despite the significant contributions of phages in different biological processes, little is known about the dealings taking place between tectiviruses and their B. cereus sensu lato (s.l.) hosts. Therefore, this work focuses on characterizing the interactions between tectiviruses and the B. cereus group, mainly by assessing their occurrence, genetic diversity and addressing the question of whether or not temperate tectiviruses influence their hosts’ life traits. Screening of a worldwide collection of B. cereus s.l. strains and propagation tests indicated that tectiviruses occurred in less than 3% of the bacterial isolates. Notwithstanding this limited distribution, partial DNA sequencing uncovered novel tectiviruses, some of them with ORFans in regulatory regions involved in lysogeny maintenance. The host range analyses along with the molecular data revealed that tectiviruses in the B. cereus group can be clustered into two major groups: the ones infecting Bacillus anthracis and those isolated from other B. cereus group members. Moreover, interesting tectiviruses –and plasmid-related molecules– with recombinant characteristics have been discovered by analyses of whole genome sequences. Additionally, it was found that tectiviral lysogeny had a significant influence on the bacterial growth, sporulation rate, biofilm formation, and swarming motility of their Bacillus thuringiensis host, all of which are traits involved in the survival and colonization of this bacterium in different environmental habitats. Overall, these findings provide evidence that not only tectiviruses are more diverse than previously thought, but they also have ecological roles in the already complex life cycle of B. thuringiensis and kin.
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Gillis, A., & Mahillon, J. (2015). Uncovering Novel Tectiviruses Preying On The Bacillus cereus Group And Their Impact On Their Hosts. The International Conference on Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensis (Bacillus-ACT 2015), New Delhi, India. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/120420