{
  "abstract": "Modifying bacterial genomes with phage recombinases, a process termed recombineering, has enabled precise genome editing, but its reach is limited by host specificity: each new organism generally requires its own recombinase to be identified and optimized. Using known phage recombination genes as synteny anchors, we mined Staphylococcus genomes and recovered a diverse collection of phage recombination cassettes, spanning the RAD52-like annealase superfamily (Sak, Erf) and the RAD51/RecA-like Sak4 family. Functional testing of representatives in S. aureus identified several highly efficient systems that support recombineering. We engineered the most efficient of these into a single-plasmid tool that yields markerless editing in S. aureus in four days. Notably, where other recombineering systems rely on host-specific factors for nuclease evasion and ssDNA loading, this cassette encodes both activities itself: a predicted broad-spectrum nuclease inhibitor and a dedicated single-stranded DNA-binding protein. We therefore tested the cassette across phylogenetically distant hosts, and observed recombination in Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecium, Francisella novicida, and Escherichia coli. These results identify a self-sufficient class of phage recombination systems and provide a portable tool for",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "University of Rochester"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "P. Maguin"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Aghahosseini"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Brodmann"
    },
    {
      "name": "V. Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Zhu"
    },
    {
      "name": "K. Szenkiel"
    },
    {
      "name": "L. A. Marraffini"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "A. Varble"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0nf0737fc9ygw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.30.761037",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.761037v1.full",
  "id": "0nf0737fc9ygw",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.761037v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "microbiology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.761037v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0nf0737fc9ygw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T00:22:14Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.30.761037",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.30.761037v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:microbiology",
      "subfield": "microbiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A Staphylococcus phage recombination cassette that enables recombineering across distant bacteria",
  "title_text": "A Staphylococcus phage recombination cassette that enables recombineering across distant bacteria",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T00:20:59Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0nf0737fc9ygw",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}