Unlocking the secrets of paired terminal genomic repeats utilised by the Burkholderia jumbo phage Matilda
- 1School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, United Kingdom, CV4 7AL
Abstract
Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. Jumbo phages have genomes exceeding 220 kb, which can support greater functional independence and complexity. This work identified vB_BceM_Matilda ({phi}Matilda), a novel Burkholderia-targeting jumbo phage. Before injecting its genome into the host bacterium, {phi}Matilda binds to the bacterial flagellum, the rotation of which is required to drive a productive phage infection. Its linear 267 kb dsDNA genome has a previously undescribed tripartite architecture, with bidirectional terminal elements of 1.3 kb and 25 kb, each flanked by distinct inverted repeats of 1.5 kb and 18 kb, respectively. These architectural elements bookend the genome. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses tracked the phage infection process and confirmed that genes within these terminal elements are transcribed and translated during infection. The presence of bidirectional terminal sequences in related jumbo phages suggests that the tripartite genome architecture may be conserved and functionally important. This work represents the first description of this genome architecture in any organism, expanding our understanding of genome organisation and raising new questions about the replication, packaging, and evolution of jumbo phage genomes.
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BibTeX
@misc{lewis2026unlocking,
title = {{Unlocking the secrets of paired terminal genomic repeats utilised by the Burkholderia jumbo phage Matilda}},
author = {J. M. Lewis and O. Burns and H. Mogg and T. Mistry and Y.-J. Lee and P. Weigele and E. Mahenthiralingam and Y. Chen and N. E. Scott and L. Baxter and C. S. Mesquita and R. Stark and T. Lithgow and J. J. Barr and A. P. Sagona},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.21.760668},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760668v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Unlocking the secrets of paired terminal genomic repeats utilised by the Burkholderia jumbo phage Matilda
AU - J. M. Lewis
AU - O. Burns
AU - H. Mogg
AU - T. Mistry
AU - Y.-J. Lee
AU - P. Weigele
AU - E. Mahenthiralingam
AU - Y. Chen
AU - N. E. Scott
AU - L. Baxter
AU - C. S. Mesquita
AU - R. Stark
AU - T. Lithgow
AU - J. J. Barr
AU - A. P. Sagona
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.21.760668
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.21.760668v1
AB - Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria. Jumbo phages have genomes exceeding 220 kb, which can support greater functional independence and complexity. This work identified vB_BceM_Matilda ({phi}Matilda), a novel Burkholderia-targeting jumbo phage. Before injecting its genome into the host bacterium, {phi}Matilda binds to the bacterial flagellum, the rotation of which is required to drive a productive phage infection. Its linear 267 kb dsDNA genome has a previously undescribed tripartite architecture, with bidirectional terminal elements of 1.3 kb and 25 kb, each flanked by distinct inverted repeats of 1.5 kb and 18 kb, respectively. These architectural elements bookend the genome. Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses tracked the phage infection process and confirmed that genes within these terminal elements are transcribed and translated during infection. The presence of bidirectional terminal sequences in related jumbo phages suggests that the tripartite genome architecture may be conserved and functionally important. This work represents the first description of this genome architecture in any organism, expanding our understanding of genome organisation and raising new questions about the replication, packaging, and evolution of jumbo phage genomes.
ER -