Broad lytic spectrum bacteriophage P479 against multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli
The increase in antibiotic resistance in pathogens such as E. coli poses a major challenge for the treatment of infections.
Fortunately, bacteriophages offer a promising alternative to combat these resistant strains.
Studies have found that the phage P479 is capable of lysing multiple serotypes and drug-resistant strains of E. coli from avian and human sources. Its one-step growth curve also showed a short latency and large burst size, suggesting its efficacy as a potential treatment option.
In addition, P479 showed good stability under various environmental conditions, making it a viable option for real-world use.
Overall, bacteriophages such as P479 offer hope for combating the threat of antibiotic resistance and treating infections caused by E. coli.
The authors Pei Li, Hui Wang, Min Li, Weiling Qi, Zitai Qi, Weiye Chen, Yongyi Dong, Zhengjun Xu, Wei Zhang published these findings in their article Characterization and genome analysis of a broad lytic spectrum bacteriophage P479 against multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli, dated 15 January 2022.
Key findings:
- A colipage called P479, found in poultry farm effluent, has the ability to lyse multiple serotypes of E. coli, including avian pathogenic E. coli, enterohemorrhagic E. coli, and neonatal meningitis E. coli
- P479 is also capable of lysing multi-drug resistant strains of E. coli.
- The one-step growth curve shows that the latency ofP479 is 10 minutes and the burst size is 318 PFU/cell.
- Stability tests show thatP479 is stable under various temperature (4 to 50 °C) and pH (3 to 11) conditions
- Antibacterial activity in vitro shows thatP479 exhibits varying degrees of bacteriostatic activity against different bacteria.
Abstract
The increase of multi-drug resistant and multi-serotypes of pathogenic Escherichia coli has brought more severe challenge to control infection.
Nowadays, bacteriophage is a promising tool to treat colibacillosis as an alternative of antibiotics.
A coliphage P479, isolated from sewage of poultry farm, could lyse multiple serotypes, including not only O1, O2, O8, O9, O21, O78, O83, O145 of Avian pathogenic E. coli, but O157:H7 of Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli and O18:K1:H7 Neonatal meningitis E. coli. Additionally, P479 could also lyse multi-drug resistant E. coli. These indicated that P479 had good lytic ability.
One-step growth curve revealed that the latent time period of P479 was 10 min and the burst size was about 318 PFU/cell. Stability tests demonstrated that P479 had good stability under various temperature (4 to 50 °C) and pH (3 to11) conditions. P479 contained of a linear, double-stranded DNA molecule of 172,033 bp with 40.3% GC content.
P479 contained 296 putative coding sequences (CDSs) and two tRNA genes.
Based on genomic comparison, P479 was classified as a member of genus Gaprivervirus, subfamily Tevenvirinae, family Myoviridae, order Caudovirales.
No known virulent or lysogenic genes were detected in the genome of P479, manifesting P479 was safe to adhibit.
Antibacterial activity in vitro manifested that P479 has varying degrees bacteriostatic activity against different bacteria.
According to the above properties, P479 has the potential to be applied in phage therapy in the future.
Keywords: Bacteriophage; Broad lytic spectrum; E. coli; Genome sequencing; Multiple drug resistance; Serotypes.
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