Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment
Phages drive bacterial diversity, profoundly influencing microbial communities, from microbiomes to the drivers of global biogeochemical cycling. Aiming to broaden our understanding of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (MG1655, K-12) phages, we screened 188 Danish wastewater samples and isolated 1...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/9/986 |
| _version_ | 1827706818083684352 |
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| author | Nikoline S. Olsen Laura Forero-Junco Witold Kot Lars H. Hansen |
| author_facet | Nikoline S. Olsen Laura Forero-Junco Witold Kot Lars H. Hansen |
| author_sort | Nikoline S. Olsen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Phages drive bacterial diversity, profoundly influencing microbial communities, from microbiomes to the drivers of global biogeochemical cycling. Aiming to broaden our understanding of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (MG1655, K-12) phages, we screened 188 Danish wastewater samples and isolated 136 phages. Ninety-two of these have genomic sequences with less than 95% similarity to known phages, while most map to existing genera several represent novel lineages. The isolated phages are highly diverse, estimated to represent roughly one-third of the true diversity of culturable virulent dsDNA <i>Escherichia</i> phages in Danish wastewater, yet almost half (40%) are not represented in metagenomic databases, emphasising the importance of isolating phages to uncover diversity. Seven viral families, <i>Myoviridae</i>, <i>Siphoviridae</i>, <i>Podoviridae, Drexlerviridae, Chaseviridae, Autographviridae,</i> and <i>Microviridae,</i> are represented in the dataset. Their genomes vary drastically in length from 5.3 kb to 170.8 kb, with a guanine and cytosine (GC) content ranging from 35.3% to 60.0%. Hence, even for a model host bacterium, substantial diversity remains to be uncovered. These results expand and underline the range of coliphage diversity and demonstrate how far we are from fully disclosing phage diversity and ecology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:34:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-978c32a21df04798a4600330fb56eea7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:34:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-978c32a21df04798a4600330fb56eea72023-11-20T12:38:56ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152020-09-0112998610.3390/v12090986Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater EnvironmentNikoline S. Olsen0Laura Forero-Junco1Witold Kot2Lars H. Hansen3Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000 Roskilde, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, DenmarkDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, DenmarkPhages drive bacterial diversity, profoundly influencing microbial communities, from microbiomes to the drivers of global biogeochemical cycling. Aiming to broaden our understanding of <i>Escherichia coli</i> (MG1655, K-12) phages, we screened 188 Danish wastewater samples and isolated 136 phages. Ninety-two of these have genomic sequences with less than 95% similarity to known phages, while most map to existing genera several represent novel lineages. The isolated phages are highly diverse, estimated to represent roughly one-third of the true diversity of culturable virulent dsDNA <i>Escherichia</i> phages in Danish wastewater, yet almost half (40%) are not represented in metagenomic databases, emphasising the importance of isolating phages to uncover diversity. Seven viral families, <i>Myoviridae</i>, <i>Siphoviridae</i>, <i>Podoviridae, Drexlerviridae, Chaseviridae, Autographviridae,</i> and <i>Microviridae,</i> are represented in the dataset. Their genomes vary drastically in length from 5.3 kb to 170.8 kb, with a guanine and cytosine (GC) content ranging from 35.3% to 60.0%. Hence, even for a model host bacterium, substantial diversity remains to be uncovered. These results expand and underline the range of coliphage diversity and demonstrate how far we are from fully disclosing phage diversity and ecology.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/9/986bacteriophagewastewater<i>Escherichia coli</i>diversitygenomicstaxonomy |
| spellingShingle | Nikoline S. Olsen Laura Forero-Junco Witold Kot Lars H. Hansen Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment Viruses bacteriophage wastewater <i>Escherichia coli</i> diversity genomics taxonomy |
| title | Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment |
| title_full | Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment |
| title_short | Exploring the Remarkable Diversity of Culturable <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phages in the Danish Wastewater Environment |
| title_sort | exploring the remarkable diversity of culturable i escherichia coli i phages in the danish wastewater environment |
| topic | bacteriophage wastewater <i>Escherichia coli</i> diversity genomics taxonomy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/12/9/986 |
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