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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #275791
Title: Molecular Characterization of Podoviridae Bacteriophages Virulent for Clostridium perfringens and Comparison of Their Predicted Lytic Proteins

Author
item Seal, Bruce
item VOLOZHANTSEV, NIKOLAY - State Research Center For Applied Microbiology And Biotechnology
item Oakley, Brian
item Morales, Cesar
item Garrish, Johnna
item SVETOCH, EDWARD - State Research Center For Applied Microbiology And Biotechnology
item SIRAGUSA, GREGORY - Former ARS Employee

Submitted to: American Association of Avian Pathologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/30/2011
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium that plays a significant role in human food-borne disease as well as non-food-borne human, animal and poultry diseases. There has been a resurgent interest in the use of bacteriophages or their gene products to control bacterial agents. Consequently, poultry intestinal material, soil, sewage and poultry processing drainage water were screened for virulent bacteriophages that could lyse C. perfringens in spot assays. Three bacteriophages designated FCPV1, FCPV4 and FZP2 were isolated in the Moscow Region of the Russian Federation and two other related viruses designated FCP7R and FCP24R were isolated in the southeastern USA. All viruses were members of the order Caudovirales in the family Podoviridae with short, non-contractile tails. The bacteriophage genomes encoded 21-27 open reading frames and were approximately 17-18kbp in size with inverted terminal repeats. The predicted DNA polymerase type B was most closely related to other members of the Podoviridae that includes Bacillus phage F29 representative of the subfamily Picovirinae. Structural proteins identified in the purified virion of FCP7R included a pre-neck appendage with putative lytic activity, major head, tail, connector or upper collar, lower collar and a structural protein with putative lysozyme-peptidase activity. All the clostridial podoviral genomes encoded predicted N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidases with C-terminal cell wall binding domains and potential holin genes. Other lytic proteins discovered included phage-encoded lysozymes and endopeptidase, many of which could eventually be expressed as bactericidal controls for C. perfringens.