Lysis‐lysogeny coexistence: prophage integration during lytic development. Issue 1 (17th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shao, Qiuyan; Trinh, Jimmy T.; McIntosh, Colby S.; Christenson, Brita; Balázsi, Gábor; Zeng, Lanying
• Is Part Of: MicrobiologyOpen. Volume 6:Issue 1(2017:Feb.)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2016-08-17
• Subjects: bacteriophage lambda -- cellular decision‐making -- DNA labeling -- Escherichia coli -- lysis‐lysogeny -- prophage integration; Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579
• DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.395
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-8827

Abstract

Abstract: The infection of Escherichia coli cells by bacteriophage lambda results in bifurcated means of propagation, where the phage decides between the lytic and lysogenic pathways. Although traditionally thought to be mutually exclusive, increasing evidence suggests that this lysis‐lysogeny decision is more complex than once believed, but exploring its intricacies requires an improved resolution of study. Here, with a newly developed fluorescent reporter system labeling single phage and E. coli DNAs, these two distinct pathways can be visualized by following the DNA movements in vivo . Surprisingly, we frequently observed an interesting "lyso‐lysis" phenomenon in lytic cells, where phage integrates its DNA into the host, a characteristic event of the lysogenic pathway, followed by cell lysis. Furthermore, the frequency of lyso‐lysis increases with the number of infecting phages, and specifically, with CII activity. Moreover, in lytic cells, the integration site attB on the E. coli genome migrates toward the polar region over time, leading to more spatial overlap with the phage DNA and frequent colocalization/collision of attB and phage DNA, possibly contributing to a higher chance for DNA integration. Abstract : Propagation via lytic or lysogenic pathways is an essential decision that temperate viruses make for their survival. Historically, it is understood that infection by phage lambda culminates either in cell lysis and progeny release or prophage integration and cell growth. Here we find that phage DNA often integrates into the host chromosome during lytic development, suggesting that a phage can utilizes concurrent developmental pathways, potentially as a fitness‐enhancing means to adapt to the ever‐changing environment.