Pf4 Phage Variant Infection Reduces Virulence-Associated Traits in <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>
Damien Tortuel, Ali Tahrioui, Audrey David, Mélyssa Cambronel, Flore Nilly, Thomas Clamens, Olivier Maillot, Magalie Barreau, Marc Feuilloley, Olivier Lesouhaitier, Alain Filloux, Emeline Bouffartigues, Pierre Cornélis, Sylvie Chevalier
Abstract
Filamentous bacteriophages can become superinfective and infect P. aeruginosa, even though they are inserted in the genome as lysogens. Despite this productive infection, growth of the host is only mildly affected, allowing the study of the interaction between the phage and the host, which is not possible in the case of lytic phages killing rapidly their host. Here, we demonstrate by transcriptome and phenotypic analysis that the infection by a superinfective filamentous phage variant causes a massive disruption in gene expression, including those coding for virulence factors and metabolic pathways.