Genomic and Functional Insights into the Cluster V Mycobacteriophage ‘EniyanLRS’ and its therapeutically relevant LysB

Drug-resistant tuberculosis and the rising incidence of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections are a growing concern that demands innovative therapeutic strategies. Despite advances in diagnostics, drug discovery, and vaccine strategies, significant gaps remain. Mycobacteriophages and their lytic enzymes offer a promising solution due to their natural abundance and diversity, host specificity and ability to disrupt complex cell envelopes and biofilms.

In this study, we report the genomic and functional characterization of a V-Cluster mycobacteriophage, ‘EniyanLRS’, isolated near a hospital in Delhi and the encoded endolysins LysA and LysB. EniyanLRS features a 78.53 kbp genome with a notably low GC content (56.9%) as compared to other mycobacteriophages, and an exceptionally long Tape Measuring Protein (TMP) gene (5.97 kbp). Its genome lacks genes related to lysogeny and harbours 24 tRNAs, suggesting high translational efficiency. Phenotypically, EniyanLRS exhibits a siphovirus morphology, lytic lifecycle and infects Mycobacterium smegmatis and drug-resistant Mycobacterium fortuitum . LysA, with its lysozyme-chitinase-amidase domain architecture, did not demonstrate significant antibacterial or antibiofilm activity. Conversely, LysB, an α/β-hydrolase, exhibited superior in vitro esterase activity compared to previously reported LysB enzymes and showed pronounced cell wall disruption of M. smegmatis and M. fortuitum, along with considerable antibiofilm efficacy (62.77% and 41.91% inhibition, respectively).

Collectively, these findings highlight the potential of EniyanLRS and its LysB enzyme as potent biocontrol agents against pathogenic mycobacteria, which can be explored to treat planktonic cells and biofilm-associated infections.