Biological, genomic, and biogeographic characterization of two lytic phages infecting Vibrio natriegens
- 1Microbial Systems Research Team, Biomanufacturing Process Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Higashi 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8566 Ibaraki Japan
Abstract
Background: Vibrio natriegens is a marine bacterium known for its exceptionally rapid growth and has recently attracted considerable attention as an alternative host microorganism in the field of biotechnology. Despite this growing interest, phages infecting this species remain poorly characterized. In this study, two lytic phages that infect V. natriegens, vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2, were isolated and subjected to biological characterization and phylogenetic analysis.
Methods: Phages vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2 were isolated from the Sumiyō River mangrove area in Amamigunto National Park, Kagoshima, Japan. Their morphology was determined using transmission electron microscopy. One-step growth curve experiments, host-range evaluation, and viability tests under different temperature, salinity, and pH conditions were performed. Whole-genome sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, and homology searches against global ocean virome datasets were conducted.
Results: vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2 exhibited prolate capsids and contractile tails, with latent periods of 40–60 min, and both infected V. natriegens specifically among the tested strains. Their genome sizes and GC contents were 244,321 bp and 41.51% for vB_Vna_AM1, and 327,464 bp and 40.67% for vB_Vna_AM2, respectively. Both phages were assigned to a subcluster of other vibriophages, showing similarities of 92.1–92.2% for vB_Vna_AM1 and 86.8–86.9% for vB_Vna_AM2. Homology searches using global ocean virome datasets revealed that homologous genes were distributed globally at the protein level; however, they were detected as partial genes within otherwise diverse viral genomes.
Conclusions: This study provides the initial description and phylogenetic analysis of newly isolated phages infecting V. natriegens. These findings expand the currently limited repertoire of culturable phages of V. natriegens and support the concept that gene modules may be shared among diverse phages within a gene-sharing network, contributing to the understanding of marine viral diversity.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2.
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BibTeX
@article{takahashi2026biological,
title = {{Biological, genomic, and biogeographic characterization of two lytic phages infecting Vibrio natriegens}},
author = {Michiko Takahashi},
journal = {Virology Journal},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Biological, genomic, and biogeographic characterization of two lytic phages infecting Vibrio natriegens
AU - Michiko Takahashi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/29
JO - Virology Journal
DO - 10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2
AB - Background: Vibrio natriegens is a marine bacterium known for its exceptionally rapid growth and has recently attracted considerable attention as an alternative host microorganism in the field of biotechnology. Despite this growing interest, phages infecting this species remain poorly characterized. In this study, two lytic phages that infect V. natriegens, vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2, were isolated and subjected to biological characterization and phylogenetic analysis. Methods: Phages vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2 were isolated from the Sumiyō River mangrove area in Amamigunto National Park, Kagoshima, Japan. Their morphology was determined using transmission electron microscopy. One-step growth curve experiments, host-range evaluation, and viability tests under different temperature, salinity, and pH conditions were performed. Whole-genome sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, and homology searches against global ocean virome datasets were conducted. Results: vB_Vna_AM1 and vB_Vna_AM2 exhibited prolate capsids and contractile tails, with latent periods of 40–60 min, and both infected V. natriegens specifically among the tested strains. Their genome sizes and GC contents were 244,321 bp and 41.51% for vB_Vna_AM1, and 327,464 bp and 40.67% for vB_Vna_AM2, respectively. Both phages were assigned to a subcluster of other vibriophages, showing similarities of 92.1–92.2% for vB_Vna_AM1 and 86.8–86.9% for vB_Vna_AM2. Homology searches using global ocean virome datasets revealed that homologous genes were distributed globally at the protein level; however, they were detected as partial genes within otherwise diverse viral genomes. Conclusions: This study provides the initial description and phylogenetic analysis of newly isolated phages infecting V. natriegens. These findings expand the currently limited repertoire of culturable phages of V. natriegens and support the concept that gene modules may be shared among diverse phages within a gene-sharing network, contributing to the understanding of marine viral diversity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-026-03259-2.
SN - 1743-422X
ER -