Background: Bacteriophages play important roles in the evolution of bacteria and in the emergence of new pathogenic strains by mediating the horizontal transfer of virulence genes. Pasteurella multocida is responsible for different disease syndromes in a wide range of domesticated animal species. However, very little is known about the influence of bacteriophages on disease pathogenesis in this species.
Results: Temperate bacteriophage diversity was assessed in 47 P. multocida isolates of avian (9), bovine (8), ovine (10) and porcine (20) origin. Induction of phage particles with mitomycin C identified a diverse range of morphological types representing both Siphoviridae and Myoviridae family-types in 29 isolates. Phage of both morphological types were identified in three isolates indicating that a single bacterial host may harbour multiple prophages. DNA was isolated from bacteriophages recovered from 18 P. multocida isolates and its characterization by restriction endonuclease (RE) analysis identified 10 different RE types. Phage of identical RE types were identified in certain closely-related strains but phage having different RE types were present in other closely-related isolates suggesting possible recent acquisition. The host range of the induced phage particles was explored using plaque assay but only 11 (38%) phage lysates produced signs of infection in a panel of indicator strains comprising all 47 isolates. Notably, the majority (9/11) of phage lysates which caused infection originated from two groups of phylogenetically unrelated ovine and porcine strains that uniquely possessed the toxA gene.
Conclusions: Pasteurella multocida possesses a wide range of Siphoviridae- and Myoviridae-type bacteriophages which likely play key roles in the evolution and virulence of this pathogen.
Keywords: Bacteriophage diversity; Bacteriophage morphology; Pasteurella multocida.