Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean
Erythrobacter, an aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacterial genus, plays a vital role in carbon and energy cycling in marine environments. However, their phage predators remain poorly understood, with only two strains previously reported. This study isolated and characterized a novel Erythroba...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592355/full |
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| author | Longfei Lu Longfei Lu Xingyu Huang Pengfei Zheng Shuzhen Wei Nianzhi Jiao Rui Zhang Xuejing Li Yunlan Yang |
| author_facet | Longfei Lu Longfei Lu Xingyu Huang Pengfei Zheng Shuzhen Wei Nianzhi Jiao Rui Zhang Xuejing Li Yunlan Yang |
| author_sort | Longfei Lu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Erythrobacter, an aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacterial genus, plays a vital role in carbon and energy cycling in marine environments. However, their phage predators remain poorly understood, with only two strains previously reported. This study isolated and characterized a novel Erythrobacter phage, vB_EauS-R34L1 (R34L1), and its sub-strain vB_EauS-R34L2 (R34L2), from coastal seawater. Both phages exhibit long-tailed, icosahedral morphologies and relatively narrow but slightly different host ranges. One-step growth curve analysis revealed a 160-min latent period and burst sizes of 81 and 91 PFU/cell for R34L1 and R34L2, respectively. Genomic analysis showed that the phages possess dsDNA genomes of 56,415 bp (R34L1) and 54,924 bp (R34L2), with G + C contents of 61.60 and 61.19%, respectively. Both phages harbor a suite of unique genes, including GapR and GH19, which are crucial for host interaction and ecological functionality. Blastn analysis indicated a 99.73% genome similarity between them. Taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses positioned them in a novel viral genus cluster, Eausmariqdvirus, under the family Casjensviridae, indicating a distant evolutionary relationship with known phages. Metagenomic queries suggested that R34L1- and R34L2-like phages are exclusively abundant in temperate and tropical epipelagic zones. This study expands our understanding of Erythrobacter phages and provides insights into their ecological roles in marine ecosystems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a97b1fc7c9474ae2b3e911fd78167021 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a97b1fc7c9474ae2b3e911fd781670212025-08-20T02:35:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2025-06-011610.3389/fmicb.2025.15923551592355Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic oceanLongfei Lu0Longfei Lu1Xingyu Huang2Pengfei Zheng3Shuzhen Wei4Nianzhi Jiao5Rui Zhang6Xuejing Li7Yunlan Yang8Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Ecosystem and Bioresource, Fourth Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, ChinaCarbon Neutral Innovation Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, ChinaInstitute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaLaboratory of Beibu Gulf Ocean Big Data Application, Fourth Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, ChinaCarbon Neutral Innovation Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, ChinaArchaeal Biology Center, Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaCarbon Neutral Innovation Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, ChinaArchaeal Biology Center, Synthetic Biology Research Center, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering, Key Laboratory of Marine Microbiome Engineering of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaErythrobacter, an aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacterial genus, plays a vital role in carbon and energy cycling in marine environments. However, their phage predators remain poorly understood, with only two strains previously reported. This study isolated and characterized a novel Erythrobacter phage, vB_EauS-R34L1 (R34L1), and its sub-strain vB_EauS-R34L2 (R34L2), from coastal seawater. Both phages exhibit long-tailed, icosahedral morphologies and relatively narrow but slightly different host ranges. One-step growth curve analysis revealed a 160-min latent period and burst sizes of 81 and 91 PFU/cell for R34L1 and R34L2, respectively. Genomic analysis showed that the phages possess dsDNA genomes of 56,415 bp (R34L1) and 54,924 bp (R34L2), with G + C contents of 61.60 and 61.19%, respectively. Both phages harbor a suite of unique genes, including GapR and GH19, which are crucial for host interaction and ecological functionality. Blastn analysis indicated a 99.73% genome similarity between them. Taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses positioned them in a novel viral genus cluster, Eausmariqdvirus, under the family Casjensviridae, indicating a distant evolutionary relationship with known phages. Metagenomic queries suggested that R34L1- and R34L2-like phages are exclusively abundant in temperate and tropical epipelagic zones. This study expands our understanding of Erythrobacter phages and provides insights into their ecological roles in marine ecosystems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592355/fullbacteriophageErythrobacterbiological featuresgenomenew genus |
| spellingShingle | Longfei Lu Longfei Lu Xingyu Huang Pengfei Zheng Shuzhen Wei Nianzhi Jiao Rui Zhang Xuejing Li Yunlan Yang Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean Frontiers in Microbiology bacteriophage Erythrobacter biological features genome new genus |
| title | Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| title_full | Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| title_fullStr | Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| title_short | Two novel phages infecting Erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| title_sort | two novel phages infecting erythrobacter isolated from the epipelagic ocean |
| topic | bacteriophage Erythrobacter biological features genome new genus |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1592355/full |
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