Open Access

REVIEW

The bacteriophage mu lysis system–A new mechanism of host lysis?

by Saikat Samanta^1,#, Ashish Ranjan Sharma^2,#, Abinit Saha¹, Manoj Kumar Singh¹, Arpita Das¹, Manojit Bhattacharya³, Rudra Prasad Saha^1,*, Sang-Soo Lee^2,*, Chiranjib Chakraborty^1,*

1 Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Science & Biotechnology, Adamas University, Kolkata, 700126, India
2 Institute for Skeletal Aging & Orthopedic Surgery, Hallym University-Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Chuncheon-si, 24252, Korea
3 Department of Zoology, Fakir Mohan University, Balasore, 56020, India

* Address correspondence to: Rudra Prasad Saha, ; Sang-Soo Lee, ; Chiranjib Chakraborty,
# Authors contributed equally

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bacteriophage Biology and Biotechnology)

BIOCELL 2021, 45(5), 1175-1186. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2021.015537

Received 25 December 2020; Accepted 28 February 2021; Issue published 12 July 2021

Abstract

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and can choose any one of the two alternative pathways for infection, i.e., lysis or lysogeny. Phage lysis is one of the conventional biological processes required to spread infection from one bacterium to another. Our analysis suggests that in the paradigm bacteriophage Mu, six proteins might be involved in host cell lysis. Mu has a broad host range, and Mu-like phages were found in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. An analysis of the genomes of Mu and Mu-like phages could be useful in elucidating the lysis mechanism in this group of phages. A detailed review of the various mechanisms of phage lysis and different proteins associated with the process will help researchers understand the phage biology and their life cycle in different bacteria. The recent increase in the number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of bacteria and the usual long-term nature of new drug development has encouraged scientists to look for alternative strategies like phage therapy and the discovery of new lysis mechanisms. Understanding the lysis mechanism in the Mu-like phages could be exploited to develop alternative therapeutics to kill drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria. In this review article, we have analyzed the phage Mu-mediated host lysis system, which is unknown till now, and our analysis indicates a possibility of the existence of a new lysis mechanism operating in Mu.

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