Characteristic, genomics and transcriptomics comparation of phages Kp84B and Kp84S infecting Klebsiella pneumoniae

Bacteriophages have emerged as attractive alternatives to antibiotics for treating multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections. Currently, numerous phage-host interaction factors remain to be discovered to better understand and optimize this therapeutic approach. In this study, we characterized two Klebsiella phages with highly similar genomes, Kp84B (40,452 bp) and Kp84S (40,466 bp), which share 99.46% sequence identity with 99% coverage. The general biological characteristics comparison showed that their host range, pH and temperature tolerance are same. However, their lysis ability was obvious different for the same host Kp84. Further comparative genome results showed that 21 different genes have 699 single nucleotide change. Five most promising protein were overexpressed in host Kp84, and lysis phenotypes of Kp84B and Kp84S were examined. As results, although lysis ability did not show obvious different between Kp84B and Kp84S, it was found that Gp4.5 and Gp5.5 genes can cause host cell abortive infection. RNA-seq analysis further revealed potential host interaction factors influencing their lysis ability, including some ABC transporters, propionate and vitamin B12 biosynthesis genes, insertion sequences, sRNA and their target genes. These provide further study target for phage-host interaction factors for lysis difference.