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Title | L-form conversion in Gram-positive bacteria enables escape from phage infection. |
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Journal, issue, pages | Nat Microbiol, Vol. 8, Issue 3, Page 387-399, Year 2023 |
Publish date | Jan 30, 2023 |
Authors | Jan C Wohlfarth / Miki Feldmüller / Alissa Schneller / Samuel Kilcher / Marco Burkolter / Susanne Meile / Martin Pilhofer / Markus Schuppler / Martin J Loessner / |
PubMed Abstract | At the end of a lytic bacteriophage replication cycle in Gram-positive bacteria, peptidoglycan-degrading endolysins that cause explosive cell lysis of the host can also attack non-infected bystander ...At the end of a lytic bacteriophage replication cycle in Gram-positive bacteria, peptidoglycan-degrading endolysins that cause explosive cell lysis of the host can also attack non-infected bystander cells. Here we show that in osmotically stabilized environments, Listeria monocytogenes can evade phage predation by transient conversion to a cell wall-deficient L-form state. This L-form escape is triggered by endolysins disintegrating the cell wall from without, leading to turgor-driven extrusion of wall-deficient, yet viable L-form cells. Remarkably, in the absence of phage predation, we show that L-forms can quickly revert to the walled state. These findings suggest that L-form conversion represents a population-level persistence mechanism to evade complete eradication by phage attack. Importantly, we also demonstrate phage-mediated L-form switching of the urinary tract pathogen Enterococcus faecalis in human urine, which underscores that this escape route may be widespread and has important implications for phage- and endolysin-based therapeutic interventions. |
External links | Nat Microbiol / PubMed:36717719 / PubMed Central |
Methods | EM (tomography) |
Structure data | EMDB-16284: Cryotomogram of L-form-like cytoplasmic membrane vesicles of Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cell EMDB-16285: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply006 treated Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cell (stage 1) EMDB-16286: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply006 treated Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cell (stage 2) EMDB-16287: Cryotomogram of a A006 virion attaching to a Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cell EMDB-16288: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply006 treated Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cell (stage 3) EMDB-16289: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply007 treated Enterococcus faecalis cells EMDB-16290: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply007 treated Enterococcus faecalis cells EMDB-16291: Cryotomogram of individual Efs7 virions and phage attachment to a Enterococcus faecalis cell EMDB-16305: Cryotomogram of endolysin Ply007 treated Enterococcus faecalis cells EMDB-16306: Cryotomogram of Listeria monocytogenes Rev2 cells |
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