Paenibacillus larvae is a highly contagious spore-forming bacteria, responsible for the American
Foulbrood (AFB) disease, lethal to honeybee brood. Integrated in bacterial genomes, prophages are
often able to provide new genes or to alter phenotypic characteristics of bacteria. The potential role
of prophages in the performance of P. larvae has been studied.
A total of 55 intact prophage genomes from 11 P. larvae strains were annotated and analysed. The
main focus was to infer the influence of their genes with some type of virulence trait (e.g.: toxins),
or functions such as antibiotic resistance, metabolic function, germination/sporulation or transporter
of nutrients, which could improve bacterial fitness. We also aimed at understanding if specific
traits were provided to a given genotype (ERIC I-V).
A total of 67 putative genes with different functions were identified. Some were present in all genotypes,
as for example, genes encoding phosphomannomutase, HicB and MazE antitoxins, while others
were exclusive from a specific genotype. In ERIC I, were found genes encoding a DNA internalization
protein or an enhancin-like toxin, in ERIC II, genes responsible for a SocA antitoxin or a DNA
mismatch repair protein, in ERIC III, a gene for a lipid phosphatase, in ERIC IV, genes encoding proteins
associated to ironsulfur uptake and nitrogen fixation and in ERIC V, genes for an aromatic acid
exporter family protein, for an epsilon-toxin type B or for an epithelial and chitin-binding protein.
Although several prophage-derived genes are closely linked to metabolic processes, only ERIC V
strains appear to have a competitive advantage since prophages contained multiple genes that could contribute to a more aggressive infection.
Despite the low representativeness on P. larvae strains diversity, we definitely contribute to leveraging studies in a subject with recent and short knowledge.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
