Phages Preying on Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus thuringiensis: Past, Present and Future

Many bacteriophages (phages) have been widely studied due to their major role in virulence evolution of bacterial pathogens. However, less attention has been paid to phages preying on bacteria from the Bacillus cereus group and their contribution to the bacterial genetic pool has been disregarded. Therefore, this review brings together the main information for the B. cereus group phages, from their discovery to their modern biotechnological applications. A special focus is given to phages infecting Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis. These phages belong to the Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, Podoviridae and Tectiviridae families. For the sake of clarity, several phage categories have been made according to significant characteristics such as lifestyles and lysogenic states. The main categories comprise the transducing phages, phages with a chromosomal or plasmidial prophage state, γ-like phages and jumbo-phages. The current genomic characterization of some of these phages is also addressed throughout this work and some promising applications are discussed here

Rhizobium meliloti mutants unable to synthesize anthranilate display a novel symbiotic phenotype.

Analyses of Rhizobium meliloti trp auxotrophs suggest that anthranilate biosynthesis by the R. meliloti trpE(G) gene product is necessary during nodule development for establishment of an effective symbiosis. trpE(G) mutants, as well as mutants blocked earlier along this pathway in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, form nodules on alfalfa that have novel defects. In contrast, R. meliloti trp mutants blocked later in the tryptophan-biosynthetic pathway form normal, pink, nitrogen-fixing nodules. trpE(G) mutants form two types of elongated, defective nodules containing unusually extended invasion zones on alfalfa. One type contains bacteroids in its base and is capable of nitrogen fixation, while the other lacks bacteroids and cannot fix nitrogen. The trpE(G) gene is expressed in normal nodules. Models are discussed to account for these observations, including one in which anthranilate is postulated to act as an in planta siderophore

Organization and sequence of the HpaII restriction-modification system and adjacent genes

We report the organization of the HpaII restriction and modification (R-M) system from Haemophilus parainfluenzae (recognition sequence: 5'...CCGG...3'), the sequence of the gene coding for the HpaII restriction endonuclease, and the sequence of the upstream flanking DNA. The HpaII system comprises two genes, hpaIIM, coding for the methyltransferase (MTase; 358 amino acids (aa), 40.4 kDa: product, Cm5CGG), and hpaIIR, coding for the restriction endonuclease (ENase; 358 aa, 40.9 kDa: product, C'CGG). The genes are adjacent, they have the same orientation, and they occur in the order hpaIIM then hpaIIR. The ENase bears little as sequence similarity to the isoschizomeric R.BsuFI and R.MspI ENases. Upstream of, and partly overlapping hpaIIM is the coding sequence for a 141-aa protein that resembles the very-short-patch-repair endonuclease (Vsr) of Escherichia coli. Upstream of that is the coding sequence for a protein that resembles valyl-tRNA synthetase (ValS)