Fig. 4: Potential for extensive DNA transfer via lateral transduction is dictated by the distribution of prophage attachment sites in the bacterial chromosome.
Map of the chromosomes of S. aureus NCTC8325-4 (a) and S. Typhimurium LT2 (b) indicating the ten potential chromosomal attachment (attB) sites available for prophage integration. The packaging direction of an integrated prophage from each attB site is indicated by its corresponding colour-coded arrow, with the dashed regions representing a distance of approximately seven headfuls (one headful = ~45 kb for 80α) in S. aureus, or 12 headfuls (one headful = ~43 kb for P22) in S. Typhimurium from the attB site, which is the minimum distance known to be packaged by LT for each phage. a The distribution and directionality of attB sites in the S. aureus NCTC8325-4 chromosome indicates the potential for transfer of the entire region between ~0.31 and 2.0 Mb from a poly-lysogenic background, representing approximately 58% of the bacterial chromosome. Adapted from ref. 4. b The distribution and directionality of attB sites in S. Typhimurium LT2 indicates the potential for transfer of up to 3.5 Mb of chromosomal DNA from a poly-lysogenic background, representing approximately 72% of the bacterial chromosome. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
