Integron,Plasmid and Host Strain Characteristics of Escherichia coli from Humans and Food Included in the Norwegian Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Programs

Antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli (n=331) isolates from humans with bloodstream infections were investigated for the presence of class 1 and class 2 integrons. The integron cassettes arrays were characterized and the findings were compared with data from similar investigations on resistant E. coli from meat and meat products (n=241) produced during the same time period. All isolates were obtained from the Norwegian monitoring programs for antimicrobial resistance in human pathogens and in the veterinary sector. Methods used included PCR, sequencing, conjugation experiments, plasmid replicon typing and subtyping, pulsed-field-gel-electrophoresis and serotyping. Integrons of class 1 and 2 occurred significantly more frequently among human isolates; 45.4% (95% CI: 39.9-50.9) than among isolates from meat; 18% (95% CI: 13.2 -23.3), (p<0.01, Chi-square test). Identical cassette arrays including dfrA1-aadA1, aadA1, dfrA12-orfF-aadA2, oxa-30-aadA1 (class 1 integrons) and dfrA1-sat1-aadA1 (class 2 integrons) were detected from both humans and meat. However, the most prevalent cassette array in human isolates, dfrA17-aadA5, did not occur in isolates from meat, suggesting a possible linkage between this class 1 integron and a subpopulation of E. coli adapted to a human host. The drfA1-aadA1 and aadA1 class 1 integrons were found frequently in both human and meat isolates. These isolates were subjected to further studies to investigate similarities with regard to transferability, plasmid and host strain characteristics. We detected incF plasmids with pMLST profile F24:A-:B1 carrying drfA1-aadA1 integrons in isolates from pork and in a more distantly related E. coli strain from a human with septicaemia. Furthermore, we showed that most of the class 1 integrons with aadA1 were located on incF plasmids with pMLST profile F51:A-:B10 in human isolates. The plasmid was present in unrelated as well as closely related host strains, demonstrating that dissemination of this integron also could be attributed to clonal spread. In conclusion, among the systematically collected isolates from two different sources, some significant differences concerning integron prevalence and integron variants were observed. However, closely related plasmids as vehicles for specific class 1 integrons in isolates from meat and from a human with bloodstream infection were found. The occurrence of similar multi-resistance plasmids in bacteria from a food source and from a human clinical sample highlights the possible role of meat as a source of resistance elements for pathogenic bacteria.     

Phenotypic and Molecular Characterization of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli in Bangladesh

Background

Resistance to cephalosporins in Enterobacteriaceae is mainly due to the production of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL). Little is known about ESBL-producing bacteria in Bangladesh. Therefore, the study presents results of phenotypic and molecular characterization of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli from hospitals in Bangladesh.

Methods

A total of 339 E. coli isolated from patients with urinary tract and wound infections attending three different medical hospitals in urban and rural areas of Bangladesh between 2003–2007 were screened for ESBL-production by the double disk diffusion test. Isolates with ESBL-phenotype were further characterized by antibiotic susceptibility testing, PCR and sequencing of different β-lactamase and virulence genes, serotyping, and XbaI-macrorestriction followed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

Results

We identified 40 E. coli with ESBL phenotype. These isolates were resistant to ceftriaxone, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, aztreonam, cefepime, and nalidixic acid but remained susceptible to imipenem. All but one isolate were additionally resistant to ciprofloxacin, and 3 isolates were resistant to cefoxitin. ESBL genes of blaCTX-M-1-group were detected in all isolates; blaTEM-type and blaOXA-1-type genes were detected in 33 (82.5%) and 19 (47.5%) isolates, respectively. Virulence genes that are present in diarrhoeagenic E. coli were not found. Class-1 integron was present in 20 (50%) isolates. All the ESBL-producing E. coli isolates harbored plasmids ranging between 1.1 and 120 MDa. PFGE-typing revealed 26 different pulsotypes, but identical pulsotype showed 6 isolates of serotype O25:H4.

Conclusion

The prevalence of multidrug-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli isolates appears to be high and the majority of the isolates were positive for bla _CTX-M. Although there was genetic heterogeneity among isolates, presence of a cluster of isolates belonging to serotype O25:H4 indicates dissemination of the pandemic uropathogenic E. coli clone in Bangladesh.     

Cefotaxime Resistant Escherichia coli Collected from a Healthy Volunteer; Characterisation and the Effect of Plasmid Loss

In this study 6 CTX-M positive E. coli isolates collected during a clinical study examining the effect of antibiotic use in a human trial were analysed. The aim of the study was to analyse these isolates and assess the effect of full or partial loss of plasmid genes on bacterial fitness and pathogenicity. A DNA array was utilised to assess resistance and virulence gene carriage. Plasmids were characterised by PCR-based replicon typing and addiction system multiplex PCR. A phenotypic array and insect virulence model were utilised to assess the effect of plasmid-loss in E. coli of a large multi-resistance plasmid. All six E. coli carrying bla _CTX-M-14 were detected from a single participant and were identical by pulse field gel electrophoresis and MLST. Plasmid profiling and arrays indicated absence of a large multi-drug resistance (MDR) F-replicon plasmid carrying blaTEM, aadA4, strA, strB, dfrA17/19, sul1, and tetB from one isolate. Although this isolate partially retained the plasmid it showed altered fitness characteristics e.g. inability to respire in presence of antiseptics, similar to a plasmid-cured strain. However, unlike the plasmid-cured or plasmid harbouring strains, the survival rate for Galleria mellonella infected by the former strain was approximately 5-times lower, indicating other possible changes accompanying partial plasmid loss. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that an apparently healthy individual can harbour bla _CTX-M-14 E. coli strains. In one such strain, isolated from the same individual, partial absence of a large MDR plasmid resulted in altered fitness and virulence characteristics, which may have implications in the ability of this strain to infect and any subsequent treatment.     

Fermentative Production of Thymidine by a Metabolically Engineered Escherichia coli Strain

Thymidine is an important precursor in the production of various antiviral drugs, including azidothymidine for the treatment of AIDS. Since thymidine-containing nucleotides are synthesized only by the de novo pathway during DNA synthesis, it is not easy to produce a large amount of thymidine biologically. In order to develop a host strain to produce thymidine, thymidine phosphorylase, thymidine kinase, and uridine phosphorylase genes were deleted from an Escherichia coli BL21 strain to develop BLdtu. Since the genes coding for the enzymes related to the nucleotide salvage pathway were disrupted, BLdtu was unable to utilize thymidine or thymine, and thymidine degradation activity was completely abrogated. We additionally expressed T4 thymidylate synthase, T4 nucleotide diphosphate reductase, bacteriophage PBS2 TMP phosphohydrolase, E. coli dCTP deaminase, and E. coli uridine kinase in the BLdtu strain to develop a thymidine-producing strain (BLdtu24). BLdtu24 produced 649.3 mg liter⁻¹ of thymidine in a 7-liter batch fermenter for 24 h, and neither thymine nor uridine was detected. However, the dUTP/dTTP ratio was increased in BLdtu24, which could lead to increased double-strand breakages and eventually to cell deaths during fermentation. To enhance thymidine production and to prevent cell deaths during fermentation, we disrupted a gene (encoding uracil-DNA N-glycosylase) involved in DNA excision repair to suppress the consumption of dTTP and developed BLdtug24. Compared with the thymidine production in BLdtu24, the thymidine production in BLdtug24 was increased by ∼1.2-fold (740.3 mg liter⁻¹). Here, we show that a thymidine-producing strain with a relatively high yield can be developed using a metabolic engineering approach.Thymidine, which is composed of 2-deoxyribose and a thymine base, is a commercially useful precursor in the chemical synthesis of various antiviral drugs, including stavudine and zidovudine (azidothymidine), the active ingredient in a formulation for the treatment of AIDS (18, 19). Because thymidine is required only in DNA synthesis, intracellular thymidine levels are very low and are tightly controlled (40). For the production of precursors for antiviral drugs, thymidine is either biologically produced in a low yield by a few modified microorganisms or chemically synthesized through a very costly process (17, 33, 48, 49). Thus, there is a need for developing a more efficient strain for thymidine production on a large scale.In nature, there are two distinct pathways for dTTP synthesis, the salvage and de novo pathways. The salvage pathway enables the cells to utilize preformed nucleobases and nucleosides for nucleotide synthesis, using thymidine phosphorylase (deoA), uridine phosphorylase (udp), and thymidine kinase (tdk) (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) (40).Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.Thymidine biosynthetic pathway. The steps engineered in this study are indicated by the bold arrows and lines. Components of the catabolism are as follows: pyrA, carbamoylphosphate synthase; pyrBI, aspartate-carbamoyl transferase; pyrC, dihydroorotase; pyrD, dihydroorotate oxidase; pyrE, orotate phosphoribosyltransferase; pyrF, OMP decarboxylase; pyrG, CTP synthetase; pyrH, UMP kinase; TMPase, TMP phosphohydrolase; nrd, nucleotide diphosphate reductase; tdΔI, T4 thymidylate synthase (intron deleted); thyA, thymidylate synthase; dcd, dCTP deaminase; udk, uridine kinase; deoA, thymidine phosphorylase; tdk, thymidine kinase; udp, uridine phosphorylase; dut, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphatase; ndk, nucleotide diphosphate kinase; tmk, TMP kinase; ung, uracil-DNA N-glycosylase; upp, uracil phosphoribosyl-transferase; cdd, cytidine deaminase; codA, cytosine deaminase.As the name indicates, the de novo pathway enables the cells to synthesize nucleobases de novo. The de novo pathway leading to thymidine biosynthesis starts with the condensation of aspartate and carbamoylphosphate, synthesized by carbamoylphosphate synthase (pyrA) (41). This condensation reaction is catalyzed by aspartate-carbamoyl transferase (pyrBI) to produce carbamoyl aspartate, which undergoes several reactions to produce UMP, the common precursor for the synthesis of the pyrimidine ribonucleoside and deoxynucleosides (Fig. ​(Fig.1)1) (39-41). For thymidine biosynthesis, UMP is converted to UDP in a reaction catalyzed by UMP kinase (pyrH), and UDP is converted to dUDP by ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase (nrdAB), which is regulated by NTP effectors through binding to specific allosteric sites on ribonucleotide diphosphate reductase (nrdA). Escherichia coli can synthesize dUMP from both dCDP and dUDP. The major pathway involves phosphorylation of dCDP to dCTP, deamination of dCTP to dUTP, and hydrolysis of dUTP to dUMP. Only 20 to 30% of the cellular dUMP is supplied by hydrolysis of dUTP (29, 37). The deamination of dCTP (dcd) is located at a branch point in the pyrimidine metabolic pathway. Because of its importance, dcd is regulated by a positive homotropic cooperativity toward dCTP and by a feedback inhibition by dTTP (29, 31, 40).Deoxyuridine triphosphatase (dUTPase [dut]) is a pyrophosphatase that contains zinc ions (42). dUTPase catalyzes the hydrolysis of dUTP to PP_i and dUMP, a substrate for thymidylate synthase (thyA). Generally, the intracellular concentration of dUTP is <10 nmol per 1 g dry cell weight (DCW), and that of dTTP exceeds 500 nmol per 1 g DCW (5, 39, 52). The intracellular dUTP-to-dTTP ratio is increased in dut-deficient mutants, leading to an increased frequency of misincorporation of uracil for thymine in DNA (34). This incorporation is transient only because uracil is removed from DNA via a subsequent excision repair initiated by uracil-DNA N-glycosylase, which is encoded by ung (15, 50). Attempted repair of deoxyuridine residues from DNA without adequate dTTP available to complete the repair reaction can result in multiple single-strand breaks, eventually leading to double-strand breaks (15). Indeed, single- and double-strand breaks accumulate in thymidine-deprived cells (16). In such cells, the loss of uracil glycosylase activity should decrease DNA breaks arising from attempted repair and thereby decrease the toxicity of thymidine depletion.The synthesis of dTMP from dUMP involves the transfer of a methylene group and two reducing equivalents from 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to dUMP, catalyzed by the dimeric enzyme thymidylate synthase (thyA). Even though ThyA catalyzes the committed step for de novo synthesis of dTTP, neither the activity of the enzyme nor the expression of the thyA gene seems to be regulated (2, 3).The general strategy used for the development of a thymidine-overproducing strain involves the alleviation of control mechanisms in key pathways. Several different microorganisms have been modified for thymidine production, including E. coli, Brevibacterium helvolum, and Corynebacterium ammoniagenes, by classical mutagenesis methods, and they were selected based on their capacity to grow on toxic thymidine analogues (30, 33, 48, 49). In these studies, feedback inhibition-resistant variants of thymidine biosynthetic enzymes were obtained by random mutation, and high-producing variants were selected. The most optimum B. helvolum strain obtained by this procedure produced 500 mg liter⁻¹ of thymidine by batch fermentation (33). However, engineered B. helvolum and E. coli mutants also produced thymine, deoxyuridine, and uracil, which are unfavorable for thymidine production since it increases costs during the purification process (30, 33, 48, 49). Furthermore, these thymidine-producing strains have residual thymidine degradation activities, resulting in decreased productivities.Thus, we tried to develop a more efficient thymidine-producing strain by enhancing the de novo pathway leading to thymidine biosynthesis and by disrupting the thymidine salvage pathway. The strategy reported here is based on disrupting genes which encode enzymes involved in thymidine degradation and on expressing foreign genes in the de novo pathway leading to thymidine biosynthesis which encode enzymes that are expected to be less sensitive to feedback inhibition by thymidine than the original enzymes in the host strain. The T4 ribonucleotide diphosphate reductase (nrdAB) operon, T4 thioredoxin (nrdC), T4 thymidylate synthase (td), and PBS2 TMP phosphohydrolase (TMPase) were expressed in an E. coli mutant strain which was modified to block the salvage pathway (deoA, tdk, and udp). In order to increase the influx of dUMP, E. coli dCTP deaminase (dcd), deoxyuridine triphosphatase (dut), and uridine kinase (udk) were expressed with phage-derived genes. We found that the dUTP/dTTP ratio was increased by increasing the level of dUTP in our mutant, leading to the frequent misincorporation of dUTP in DNA. In order to prevent frequent temporary DNA breaks and gaps by excision repair caused by the increased intracellular dUTP/dTTP ratio, uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (ung) was additionally disrupted.     

Production and Evaluation of Antibody to the Heat-Stable Enterotoxin from a Human Strain of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin was coupled to bovine serum albumin by a carbodiimide reagent. Antibody to the conjugate was produced by immunization of rabbits. Data from radioimmunoassay and infant mouse tests indicate the presence of antibody to the enterotoxin. The antisera can be used in a radioimmunoassay to measure enterotoxin in various fluids.     

Development of a Biofilm Production-Deficient Escherichia coli Strain as a Host for Biotechnological Applications

Bacteria form biofilms by adhering to biotic or abiotic surfaces. This phenomenon causes several problems, including a reduction in the transport of mass and heat, an increase in resistance to antibiotics, and a shortening of the lifetimes of modules in bioindustrial fermentors. To overcome these difficulties, we created a biofilm production-deficient Escherichia coli strain, BD123, by deleting genes involved in curli biosynthesis and assembly, Δ(csgG-csgC); colanic acid biosynthesis and assembly, Δ(wcaL-wza); and type I pilus biosynthesis, Δ(fimB-fimH). E. coli BD123 remained mostly in the form of planktonic cells under the conditions tested and became more sensitive to the antibiotics streptomycin and rifampin than the wild-type E. coli MG1655: the growth of BD123 was inhibited by one-fourth of the concentrations needed to inhibit MG1655. In addition, the transformation efficiency of BD123 was about 20 times higher than that of MG1655, and the production and secretion of recombinant proteins were ~16% and ~25% greater, respectively, with BD123 than with MG1655. These results indicate that the newly created biofilm production-deficient strain of E. coli displays several key properties that substantially enhance its utility in the biotechnology arena.     

Presence of ESBL/AmpC -Producing Escherichia coli in the Broiler Production Pyramid: A Descriptive Study

Broilers and broiler meat products are highly contaminated with extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) or plasmid-mediated AmpC beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli and are considered to be a source for human infections. Both horizontal and vertical transmission might play a role in the presence of these strains in broilers. As not much is known about the presence of these strains in the whole production pyramid, the epidemiology of ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli in the Dutch broiler production pyramid was examined. Cloacal swabs of Grandparent stock (GPS) birds (one−/two-days (breed A and B), 18 and 31 weeks old (breed A)), one-day old Parent stock birds (breed A and B) and broiler chickens of increasing age (breed A) were selectively cultured to detect ESBL/AmpC-producing isolates. ESBL/AmpC-producing isolates were found at all levels in the broiler production pyramid in both broiler breeds examined. Prevalence was already relatively high at the top of the broiler production pyramid. At broiler farms ESBL/AmpC producing E. coli were still present in the environment of the poultry house after cleaning and disinfection. Feed samples taken in the poultry house also became contaminated with ESBL/AmpC producing E. coli after one or more production weeks. The prevalence of ESBL/AmpC-positive birds at broiler farms increased within the first week from 0–24% to 96–100% independent of the use of antibiotics and stayed 100% until slaughter. In GPS breed A, prevalence at 2 days, 18 weeks and 31 weeks stayed below 50% except when beta-lactam antibiotics were administered. In that case prevalence increased to 100%. Interventions minimizing ESBL/AmpC contamination in broilers should focus on preventing horizontal and vertical spread, especially in relation to broiler production farms.     

Evaluation of Escherichia coli Host Strain CB390 for Simultaneous Detection of Somatic and F-Specific Coliphages

Escherichia coli WG5, the strain recommended by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to detect somatic coliphages, was transformed to F⁺ by introducing the plasmid Famp, which rendered it capable of simultaneously detecting both somatic and F-specific coliphages. Indeed, this strain, CB390, proved as effective in detecting similar numbers of phages as the sum of somatic and F-specific bacteriophages detected by the host strains recommended by both the ISO and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standardized methods.     

Application of Plasmid to ATP Production by E. coli

A variety of immunomodulators were synthesized by combining biologically active derivatives of 1-thio-muramoyl dipeptide with 4-O-phosphono-d-glucosamine derivatives related to bacterial lipid A, and using the (succinoylamino)undecanoyl group as a spacer. Their immunoadjuvant activities in guinea-pigs were examined.     

Engineering of an Escherichia coli Strain for the Production of 3-Methyl-1-Butanol

3-Methyl-1-butanol is a potential fuel additive or substitute. Previously this compound was identified in small quantities in yeast fermentation as one of the fusel alcohols. In this work, we engineered an Escherichia coli strain to produce 3-methyl-1-butanol from glucose via the host's amino acid biosynthetic pathways. Strain improvement with the removal of feedback inhibition and competing pathways increased the selectivity and productivity of 3-methyl-1-butanol. This work demonstrates the feasibility of production of 3-methyl-1-butanol as a biofuel and shows promise in using E. coli as a host for production.     

重组大肠杆菌生物转化甘油生产3-羟基丙酸

目的:以甘油为底物构建高效的3-羟基丙酸生产菌株。方法:以自身携带乙醛脱氢酶的E.coli BL21(DE3)plysS作为宿主,异源表达源自Klebsiella pneumoniae的甘油脱水酶基因dhaB。结果:重组菌E.coli HP获得的甘油脱水酶比活力在1.0mmol/L IPTG的诱导下达到了77.2 U/mg,摇瓶条件下,3-HP的最大产量为5.44 g/L,摩尔转化率为53%,该产量比目前报道的最高水平(4.4 g/L)提高了23.6%。结论:重组菌株E.coli HP实现了甘油向3-羟基丙酸(3-HP)的高效生物转化。     

PQR转运体基因赋予大肠杆菌BL21百草枯抗性

前期研究中成功地分离了2个对百草枯具有高度抗性的土壤细菌SPQ03和SPQ14.本研究从这两个菌分别克隆了基因PnPQR和OaPQR,二者ORF全长均为1 233 bp,编码410个氨基酸残基,含有11个跨膜区(TMS),属于非典型的主要易化超家族(major facilitator superfamily, MFS).立体结构分析表明,蛋白的N端和C端分别由5个和6个由α-螺旋组成的跨膜区.只有P151L和P154V两个氨基酸不同.将两个基因在大肠杆菌BL21菌株中异源表达,能提高大肠杆菌对百草枯的抗性,但不能提高其对过氧化氢的抗性.     

Plasmid size can affect the ability of Escherichia coli to produce high-quality plasmids

Large molecular weight plasmids are often used in gene therapy and DNA vaccines. To investigate the effect of plasmid size on the performance of Escherichia coli host strains during plasmid preparation, we employed E. coli JM109 and TOP10 cells to prepare four plasmids ranging from 4.7 to 16.8?kb in size. Each plasmid was extracted from JM109 and TOP10 cells using an alkaline lysis mini-preparation method. However, when commercial kits were used to extract the same plasmids from JM109 cells, the large molecular weight plasmids substantially degraded, compared with their smaller counterparts. No degradation was observed when the four plasmids were extracted from E. coli TOP10 cells using the same commercial kit. We conclude, therefore, that the performance of E. coli in high quality plasmid preparations can be affected by plasmid size.     

产琥珀酸重组大肠杆菌的发酵性能研究

研究了重组大肠杆菌JM001(△ppc)/pTrc99a-pck发酵产琥珀酸的性能,结果表明厌氧条件下其耗糖能力和产酸能力分别为对照菌株JM001的4.2倍和15.3倍。进一步优化发酵条件表明：采用接入菌泥的发酵方式比按照10%接种量转接厌氧发酵的效果要好,琥珀酸的对葡萄糖的质量收率提高了约10%,且副产物乙酸的量进一步降低。初始葡萄糖浓度高于60g/L时会对菌株的生长和产酸产生抑制,且浓度越高,抑制作用越明显。7L发酵罐放大实验中,整个厌氧发酵阶段葡萄糖的消耗速率为0.42g/(L.h),琥珀酸对葡萄糖的质量收率为67.75%,琥珀酸的生产强度为0.28g/(L.h)。     

Plasmid recombination by the RecBCD pathway of Escherichia coli.

Previously, we demonstrated that exonuclease I-deficient strains of Escherichia coli accumulate high-molecular-weight linear plasmid concatemers when transformed with plasmids carrying the chi sequence (5'- GCTGGTGG-3') (M. M. Zaman and T. C. Boles, J. Bacteriol. 176:5093-5100, 1994). Since high-molecular weight linear DNA is believed to be the natural substrate for RecBCD-mediated recombination during conjugation (A. J. Clark and K. B. Low, p. 155-215, in K. B. Low, ed., The Recombination of Genetic Material, 1988), we analyzed the recombination frequencies of chi+ and chi0 plasmids in sbcB strains. Here, we report that chi sites stimulate plasmid recombination frequency by 16-fold in sbcB strains. Chi-stimulated plasmid recombination is dependent on RecBCD but is independent of RecF pathway genes. The distribution of recombination products suggests that high-molecular-weight linear plasmid DNA is a substrate for RecBCD-mediated recombination. Surprisingly, our data also suggest that chi+ plasmids also recombine by the RecBCD pathway in rec+ sbcB+ cells.     

Phage-Encoded Colanic Acid-Degrading Enzyme Permits Lytic Phage Infection of a Capsule-Forming Resistant Mutant Escherichia coli Strain

In this study, we isolated a bacteriophage T7-resistant mutant strain of Escherichia coli (named S3) and then proceeded to characterize it. The mutant bacterial colonies appeared to be mucoid. Microarray analysis revealed that genes related to colanic acid production were upregulated in the mutant. Increases in colanic acid production by the mutant bacteria were observed when l-fucose was measured biochemically, and protective capsule formation was observed under an electron microscope. We found a point mutation in the lon gene promoter in S3, the mutant bacterium. Overproduction of colanic acid was observed in some phage-resistant mutant bacteria after infection with other bacteriophages, T4 and lambda. Colanic acid overproduction was also observed in clinical isolates of E. coli upon phage infection. The overproduction of colanic acid resulted in the inhibition of bacteriophage adsorption to the host. Biofilm formation initially decreased shortly after infection but eventually increased after 48 h of incubation due to the emergence of the mutant bacteria. Bacteriophage PBECO4 was shown to infect the colanic acid-overproducing mutant strains of E. coli. We confirmed that the gene product of open reading frame 547 (ORF547) of PBECO4 harbored colanic acid-degrading enzymatic (CAE) activity. Treatment of the T7-resistant bacteria with both T7 and PBECO4 or its purified enzyme (CAE) led to successful T7 infection. Biofilm formation decreased with the mixed infection, too. This procedure, using a phage cocktail different from those exploiting solely receptor differences, represents a novel strategy for overcoming phage resistance in mutant bacteria.