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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Produce Safety and Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #390714
Research Project: Elucidating the Factors that Determine the Ecology of Human Pathogens in Foods

Location: Produce Safety and Microbiology Research

Title: Whole-genome analysis of Escherichia phage vB_EcoM-S1P5QW, isolated from manures collected from cattle farms in Maine

Author
item Quintela, Irwin
item HWANG, ANYA - Volunteer
item VASSE, TYLER - Volunteer
item Salvador, Alexandra
item ZHANG, YUJIE - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Liao, Yen-Te
item Wu, Vivian

Submitted to: Microbiology Resource Announcements
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/21/2022
Publication Date: 3/7/2022
Citation: Quintela, I.A., Hwang, A., Vasse, T., Salvador, A., Zhang, Y., Liao, Y., Wu, V.C. 2022. Whole-genome analysis of Escherichia phage vB_EcoM-S1P5QW, isolated from manures collected from cattle farms in Maine. Microbiology Resource Announcements. 11(4). Article e00041-22. https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00041-22.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00041-22

Interpretive Summary: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26:H11 (STEC O26) has contributed to recent non-STEC O157 outbreaks. In the United Kingdom, a major foodborne outbreak of STEC O26:H11 associated with pre-packed sandwiches was reported in 2019. A multistate outbreak of STEC O26:H11 linked to raw flour also occurred in the United States. The current approach to control foodborne pathogens presents serious gaps. Novel strategies are needed to reduce or eliminate these biological hazards effectively. Lytic bacteriophages provide an alternative solution to the traditional control methods in pre/post-harvest stages of food production. Here, we report a complete genome sequence of Escherichia phage vB_EcoM-S1P5QW (S1P5QW), a T4-like bacteriophage isolated from manure samples that can kill STEC O26:H11.

Technical Abstract: Here, we report a complete genome sequence of Escherichia phage vB_EcoM-S1P5QW (or S1P5QW), a T4-like bacteriophage isolated from manure samples that can infect and lyse STEC O26:H11. Based on the analysis, S1P5QW belongs to the Myoviridae family and has a double-stranded DNA with a genome size of 166,102 bp, 10 tRNAs, and an average G+C content of 35.5%. The phage shares 96.8% average nucleotide identity with Shigella phage SHBML-50-1 and is highly similar to T4 or T4-like phages. A total of 256 open reading frames (ORFs) has been predicted; 127 of those have been annotated with functional proteins that include 39 ORFs for DNA replication and regulation (DNA helicase, DNA polymerase, clamp, reductase, and DNA primase). It was found that S1P5QW might exhibit a novel packaging mechanism with redundant termini. A unique inner membrane subunit of spanin was also found, as well as lysis proteins (657-bp holin and 495-bp endolysin) that confirmed the lytic activity of S1P5QW against E. coli O26:H11. Lastly, S1P5QW does not possess stx, lysogeny-associated, and antibiotic resistance genes, which may be meaningful for further STEC O26 biocontrol studies.