Dual transcriptional profiles during staphylococcus infected by a newly jumbo phage SA1. Staphylococcus

RNA-seq analysis revealed that phage SA1 took over the transcriptional resources of the host cells in the process of infection, and the gene expression of phage SA1 could be divided into early, middle and late genes. Early and middle genes mostly encode proteins related to DNA replication, synthesis and repair, while late genes mainly encode proteins related to phage structure and host lysis. During infection, phages only need to use a small part of resources to achieve phage replication, because only about 35.73% (997 / 2790) of the host gene is defined as DEG. In addition, more upregulated rather than downregulated DEGs were found, and the difference reached the maximum at 15 min after infection. GO and KEGG analysis showed that phage infection mainly affected the nucleotide metabolism, protein metabolism and energy related metabolism of the host. Besides, the expression of some genes related to anti-phage, virulence and antibiotic resistance were also changed significantly during infection. This work provided a new insight into the interaction between jumbo phages hosted by Gram-positive bacteria and the host, and also provides a reference for the study of phage therapy and antibiotics.