A Bacillus phage is a member of a group of bacteriophages known to have bacteria in the genus Bacillus as host species. These bacteriophages have been found to belong to the families Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, Podoviridae, or Tectiviridae.[1][2][3][4] The genus Bacillus includes the model organism, B. subtilis, and two widely known human pathogens, B. anthracis and B. cereus. Other strains of Bacillus bacteria that phage are known to infect include B. megaterium, B. mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, B. thuringiensis, and B. weihenstephanensis. More than 1,455 bacillus phage have been discovered from many different environments and areas around the world.[5] Only 164 of these phages have been completely sequenced as of December 16, 2021.[5]
Genome diversity
Bacillus phage are classified based on their genome sequences. The total sequence length ranges from 7,826 (in phage pMC8) to 509,170 bp (in phage pHS181) with the GC content of these phage being an average of 38.25%.[6]
Within Bacillus phage there are 12 clusters (A-L), 28 subclusters, and 14 singletons. Clusters are groups of related genomes with the 12 clusters showing at least 50% homology between phage.[7] Singletons are phage that have no significant nucleotide similarity to others. The most conserved genes within the Bacillus phage include those that encode tail proteins and other structural proteins, holin, and a site-specific recombinase.[7] One group of gene that is highly variable between Bacillus phage are tRNA genes. The role of phage tRNAs largely depend on their bacterial host, hence the number could widely differ depending on the specific strain of bacteria.[citation needed]
Lee JH, Shin H, Ryu S (May 2014). "Characterization and comparative genomic analysis of bacteriophages infecting members of the Bacillus cereus group". Archives of Virology. 159 (5): 871–884. doi:10.1007/s00705-013-1920-3. PMID24264384. S2CID15058899.
Gentry-Weeks C, Coburn PS, Gilmore MS (2002). "Phages and other mobile virulence elements in gram-positive pathogens". Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. 264 (2): 79–94. PMID12012871.
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