AUTHOR=Borowicz Marcin , Krzyżanowska Dorota M. , Narajczyk Magdalena , Sobolewska Marta , Rajewska Magdalena , Czaplewska Paulina , Węgrzyn Katarzyna , Czajkowski Robert 

TITLE=Soft rot pathogen Dickeya dadantii 3937 produces tailocins resembling the tails of Peduovirus P2

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1307349

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1307349

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Tailocins are nanomolecular machines with bactericidal activity. They are produced by bacteria to contribute to fitness in mixed communities, and hence, they play a critical role in their ecology in a variety of habitats. Here, we characterized the new tailocin produced by <italic>Dickeya dadantii</italic> strain 3937, a well-characterized member of plant pathogenic Soft Rot <italic>Pectobacteriaceae</italic> (SRP). Tailocins induced in <italic>D. dadantii</italic> were <italic>ca.</italic> 166 nm long tubes surrounded by contractive sheaths with baseplates having tail fibers at one end. A 22-kb genomic cluster involved in their synthesis and having high homology to the cluster coding for the tail of the Peduovirus P2 was identified. The <italic>D. dadantii</italic> tailocins, termed dickeyocins P2D1 (phage P2-like dickeyocin 1), were resistant to inactivation by pH (3.5–12), temperature (4–50°C), and elevated osmolarity (NaCl concentration: 0.01–1 M). P2D1 could kill a variety of different <italic>Dickeya</italic> spp. but not any strain of <italic>Pectobacterium</italic> spp. tested and were not toxic to <italic>Caenorhabditis elegans</italic>.</p>