Phage resistance of Salmonella enterica obtained by transposon Tn5‐mediated SefR gene silent mutation

Salmonella enterica contamination is a primary cause of global food poisoning. Using phages as bactericidal alternatives to antibiotics could confront the issue of drug resistance. However, the problem of phage resistance, especially mutant strains with multiple phage resistance, is a critical barrier to the practical application of phages. In this study, a library of EZ-Tn5 transposable mutants of susceptible host S. enterica B3-6 was constructed. After the infestation pressure of a broad-spectrum phage TP1, a mutant strain with resistance to eight phages was obtained. Analysis of the genome resequencing results revealed that the SefR gene was disrupted in the mutant strain. The mutant strain displayed a reduced adsorption rate of 42% and a significant decrease in swimming and swarming motility, as well as a significantly reduced expression of the flagellar-related FliL and FliO genes to 17% and 36%, respectively. An uninterrupted form of the SefR gene was cloned into vector pET-21a (+) and used for complementation of the mutant strain. The complemented mutant exhibited similar adsorption and motility as the wild-type control. These results suggest that the disrupted flagellar-mediated SefR gene causes an adsorption inhibition, which is responsible for the phage-resistant phenotype of the S. enterica transposition mutant.