Experimental validation that human microbiome phages use alternative genetic coding.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36175428.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-32979-6 and PMC identifier 9523058.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Previous bioinformatic analyses of metagenomic data have indicated that bacteriophages can use genetic codes different from those of their host bacteria. In particular, reassignment of stop codon TAG to glutamine (a variation known as 'genetic code 15') has been predicted. Here, we use LC-MS/MS-based metaproteomics of human fecal samples to provide experimental evidence of the use of genetic code 15 in two crAss-like phages. Furthermore, the proteomic data from several phage structural proteins supports the reassignment of the TAG stop codon to glutamine late in the phage infection cycle. Thus, our work experimentally validates the expression of genetic code 15 in human microbiome phages.
Medical subject headings
- Bacteriophages
- Microbiota