Abstract
To date, only three bacteriophages of leptospires—leptophages—are known. Nonetheless, numerous prophages have been found in the genus, especially in the genomes of pathogenic species. Thus, some laboratories attempt to isolate leptophage particles from environmental samples or following mitomycin C induction of bacterial cultures. Here, we propose multiple procedures to isolate, purify, and characterize bacteriophages, based on protocols used for LE3 and LE4 characterization.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Saint Girons I, Margarita D, Amouriaux P, Baranton G (1990) First isolation of bacteriophages for a spirochaete: potential genetic tools for Leptospira. Res Microbiol 141(9):1131–1138. https://doi.org/10.1016/0923-2508(90)90086-6
Bourhy P, Frangeul L, Couve E, Glaser P, Saint Girons I, Picardeau M (2005) Complete nucleotide sequence of the LE1 prophage from the spirochete Leptospira biflexa and characterization of its replication and partition functions. J Bacteriol 187(12):3931–3940. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.187.12.3931-3940.2005
Schiettekatte O, Vincent AT, Malosse C, Lechat P, Chamot-Rooke J, Veyrier FJ, Picardeau M, Bourhy P (2018) Characterization of LE3 and LE4, the only lytic phages known to infect the spirochete Leptospira. Sci Rep 8(1):11781. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-29983-6
Fouts DE, Matthias MA, Adhikarla H, Adler B, Amorim-Santos L, Berg DE, Bulach D et al (2016) What makes a bacterial species pathogenic?: comparative genomic analysis of the genus Leptospira. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(2):e0004403
Picardeau M (2017) Virulence of the zoonotic agent of leptospirosis: still terra incognita? Nat Rev Microbiol 15:297–307. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2017.5
Zhu W-N, Huang L-L, Zeng L-B, Zhuang X-R, Chen C-Y, Wang Y-Z, Qin J-H, Zhu Y-Z, Guo X-K (2014) Isolation and characterization of two novel plasmids from pathogenic Leptospira interrogans serogroup canicola serovar canicola strain Gui44. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 8(8):e3103. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003103
Thibeaux R, Geroult S, Benezech C, Chabaud S, Soupé-Gilbert M-E, Girault D, Bierque E, Goarant C (2017) Seeking the environmental source of Leptospirosis reveals durable bacterial viability in river soils. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(2):e0005414. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005414
Acknowledgments
This work was part of the Ph.D. thesis of O.S. who received financial support from “Université Paris Diderot” and “Sorbonne Paris Cité.” We thank Soizick Lucas-Staat and Nicolas Dufour for technical assistance during leptophage extractions, Olivier Gorgette for technical assistance during the TEM observations, and Robert A. Gaultney for proofreading the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Schiettekatte, O., Bourhy, P. (2020). Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Leptophages. In: Koizumi, N., Picardeau, M. (eds) Leptospira spp.. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2134. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0459-5_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0459-5_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0458-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0459-5
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols