Comparative genomics of the Microviridae. Part 3
Introduction
Metagenomics analyses have lead to the discovery of a variety of microbial nucleotide sequences from environmental samples. These techniques have also allowed for the discovery of uncultured viral nucleotide sequences that are commonly from bacteriophages that has also resulted in the discovery of useful enzymes for molecular biology. There has been a resurgent interest in bacteriophage biology and their use or use of phage gene products as antibacterial agents. Bacteriophages are thought to be the most abundant life form as a group and the importance of phage to bacterial evolution, the role of phage or prophage encoded virulence factors that contribute to bacterial infectious diseases and their contribution to horizontal gene transfer cannot be over stated. Additionally, the contribution to microbial ecology and to agricultural production is also extremely important.
Enteric diseases are an important economic production problem for the poultry industry worldwide. One of the major economically important enteric diseases for the poultry industry are the poult enteritis complex (PEC) and poult enteritis mortality syndrome (PEMS) in turkeys and a runting-stunting syndrome (RSS) in broiler chickens. Consequently, studies have been ongoing to identify novel enteric viruses among poultry species at our laboratory. In a recent study, we utilized the Roche/454 Life Sciences GS-FLX platform to compile an RNA virus metagenome from turkey flocks experiencing enteric disease. This approach yielded numerous sequences homologous to viruses in the BLAST nr protein database, many of which have not been described in turkeys.
Additionally, we have successfully applied a random PCR-based method for detection of unknown microorganisms from enteric samples of turkeys that resulted in identification of genomic sequences and subsequent determination of the full-length genome from a previously uncultured parvovirus. During these ongoing investigations to further characterize the turkey gut microbiome and identify novel viral pathogens of poultry, bacteriophage genomic sequences have also been identified. Herein we report the complete genomic sequence of a putative novel member of the Microviridae obtained from turkey gastrointestinal DNA samples utilizing metagenomics approaches. The protein sequences of ΦCA82 were most similar to those of Chlamydia phages.
Forty-two complete intestinal tracts (from duodenum/pancreas to cloaca, including cecal tonsils) from a turkey farm in California, U.S.A. with histories of enteric disease problems were received at the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL). The intestines were processed and pooled into a single sample, as previously described. A sequence-independent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol was employed to amplify particle-associated nucleic acid (PAN) present in turkey intestinal homogenates, and has been described elsewhere in detail. Using this approach, a total of 576 clones were identified and sequenced with the M13 forward and reverse primers on an AB-3730 automated DNA sequencer. The sequenced clones were used as query sequences to search the GenBank non-redundant nucleotide and protein databases using the blastn and blastx algorithms. In total, the majority of clones with inserts had no hit in the databases using tblastx. However, 46% of the cloned DNA had homology to cellular DNA, bacterial DNA, bacteriophage DNA, and several eukaryotic viral DNA genomes. Twelve DNA clones had sequence similarity to single-stranded DNA microphages, which have also been identified predominantly in microbialites. A contig, CA82 with an average of eightfold coverage and length of 1962 nt was assembled from eight of those clones. This contig had no significant nucleotide similarity to database sequences, but the deduced amino acid sequence revealed significant similarity to the members of the family Microviridae. This initial contig was used to design PCR primers in the opposite orientation of the circular ssDNA to assemble into a contiguous ΦCA82 genome. The PCR amplification resulted in a 3.4 kb product that closed the gap between the CA82 contig and the rest of the circular genome. The final sequence was confirmed by sub-cloning and primer walking with primers resulting ~1 kb fragments containing 250 bp overlapping sequences across the genome. The circular DNA genome was assembled from contigs exhibiting 100% nucleotide identity within the overlapping regions.