Expansion of Kuravirus-like Phage Sequences within the Past Decade, including Escherichia Phage YF01 from Japan, Prompt the Creation of Three New Genera.

Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, are currently receiving significant attention amid an ever-growing global antibiotic resistance crisis. In tandem, a surge in the availability and affordability of next-generation and third-generation sequencing technologies has driven the deposition of a wealth of phage sequence data. Here, we have isolated a novel Escherichia phage, YF01, from a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Yokohama, Japan. We demonstrate that the YF01 phage shares a high similarity to a collection of thirty-five Escherichia and Shigella phages found in public databases, six of which have been previously classified into the Kuravirus genus by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV). Using modern phylogenetic approaches, we demonstrate that an expansion and reshaping of the current six-membered Kuravirus genus is required to accommodate all thirty-six member phages. Ultimately, we propose the creation of three additional genera, Vellorevirus, Jinjuvirus, and Yesanvirus, which will allow a more organized approach to the addition of future Kuravirus-like phages.

Native and nonnative speakers' processing of a miniature version of Japanese as revealed by ERPs.

Several event-related potential (ERP) studies in second language (L2) processing have revealed a differential vulnerability of syntax-related ERP effects in contrast to purely semantic ERP effects. However, it is still debated to what extent a potential critical period for L2 acquisition, as opposed to the attained proficiency level in the L2, contributes to the pattern of results reported in previous ERP studies. We studied L2 processing within the model of a miniature version of a natural language, namely Japanese, specifically constructed to assure high proficiency of the learners. In an auditory ERP experiment, we investigated sentence processing of the "Mini-Japanese" in Japanese native speakers and German volunteers before and after training. By making use of three different types of violation, namely, word category, case, and classifier violations, native and nonnative ERP patterns were compared. The three types of violation elicited three characteristic ERP patterns in Japanese native speakers. The word category violation elicited an anteriorly focused, broadly distributed early negativity followed by a P600, whereas the case violation evoked a P600 which was preceded by an N400. The classifier violation led solely to a late left distributed negativity with an anterior focus. Although the P600 was similar for Japanese natives and learners, the N400 and the anterior negativities were not present in the learner group. The differences across groups suggest deviant neural processes in on-line syntactic and thematic processing in the L2 learners despite high behavioral skills.