Synonymous codon usage in forty staphylococcal phages identifies the factors controlling codon usage variation and the phages suitable for phage therapy

The immergence and dissemination of multidrug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus in recent years have expedited the research on the discovery of novel anti-staphylococcal agents promptly. Bacteriophages have long been showing tremendous potentialities in curing the infections caused by various pathogenic bacteria including S. aureus. Thus far, only a few virulent bacteriophages, which do not carry any toxin-encoding gene but are capable of eradicating staphylococcal infections, were reported. Based on the codon usage analysis of sixteen S. aureus phages, previously three phages were suggested to be useful as the anti-staphylococcal agents. To search for additional S. aureus phages suitable for phage therapy, relative synonymous codon usage bias has been investigated in the protein-coding genes of forty new staphylococcal phages. All phages appeared to carry A and T ending codons. Several factors such as mutational pressure, translational selection and gene length seemed to be responsible for the codon usage variation in the phages. Codon usage indeed varied phage to phage. Of the phages, phages G1, Twort, 66 and Sap-2 may be extremely lytic in nature as majority of their genes possess high translational efficiency, indicating that these phages may be employed in curing staphylococcal infections.     

Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage KPP21 belonging to family Podoviridae genus N4‐like viruses isolated in Japan

Bacteriophages (phages) belonging to the family Podoviridae genus N4‐like viruses have been used as therapeutic agent in phage therapy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. P. aeruginosa phage KPP21 was isolated in Japan, and phylogenetically investigated the phages belonging to this viral genus. Morphological and genetic analyses confirmed that phage KPP21 belongs to the family Podoviridae genus N4‐like viruses. Moreover, phylogenetic analyses based on putative DNA polymerase and major virion protein showed that P. aeruginosa phages belonging to the genus N4‐like viruses are separated into two lineages and that phage KPP21 is in the same clade as phage LUZ7.     

Susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa veterinary isolates to Pbunavirus PB1-like phages

In recent years, antimicrobial-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains have increased in the veterinary field. Therefore, phage therapy has received significant attention as an approach for overcoming antimicrobial resistance. In this context, we isolated and characterized four Pseudomonas bacteriophages. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolated phages are novel Myoviridae Pbunavirus PB1-like phages with ØR12 belonging to a different clade compared with the other three. These phages had distinct lytic activity against 22 P. aeruginosa veterinary isolates. The phage cocktail composed from the PB1-like phages clearly inhibited the occurrence of the phage-resistant variant, suggesting that these phages could be useful in phage therapy.     

Selection of Burkholderia pseudomallei protease-binding peptides by phage display

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a causative agent of melioidosis, a fatal community acquired septicemia in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. A protease has been proposed to be one of the major pathogenic factors to play a significant role in melioidosis. We have used phage display technology to identify peptides binding to B. pseudomallei protease. By screening a constrained cyclic heptapeptide library, five independent clones with affinity to this protease were isolated and the amino acid sequences were determined. The cyclic heptapeptides from two of the phage clones (Cys-Phe-Phe-Met-Pro-His-Thr-Phe-Cys) were identical and showed the strongest phage-protease interaction as detected by ELISA. Four of the five selected phages at the amount of 10¹³ phages could inhibit B. pseudomallei protease activity by approximately 50%.     

Formation of biofilms under phage predation: considerations concerning a biofilm increase

Bacteriophages are emerging as strong candidates for combating bacterial biofilms. However, reports indicating that host populations can, in some cases, respond to phage predation by an increase in biofilm formation are of concern. This study investigates whether phage predation can enhance the formation of biofilm and if so, if this phenomenon is governed by the emergence of phage-resistance or by non-evolutionary mechanisms (eg spatial refuge). Single-species biofilms of three bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus) were pretreated and post-treated with species-specific phages. Some of the phage treatments resulted in an increase in the levels of biofilm of their host. It is proposed that the phenotypic change brought about by acquiring phage resistance is the main reason for the increase in the level of biofilm of P. aeruginosa. For biofilms of S. aureus and S. enterica Typhimurium, although resistance was detected, increased formation of biofilm appeared to be a result of non-evolutionary mechanisms.     

BREX is a novel phage resistance system widespread in microbial genomes

The perpetual arms race between bacteria and phage has resulted in the evolution of efficient resistance systems that protect bacteria from phage infection. Such systems, which include the CRISPR‐Cas and restriction‐modification systems, have proven to be invaluable in the biotechnology and dairy industries. Here, we report on a six‐gene cassette in Bacillus cereus which, when integrated into the Bacillus subtilis genome, confers resistance to a broad range of phages, including both virulent and temperate ones. This cassette includes a putative Lon‐like protease, an alkaline phosphatase domain protein, a putative RNA‐binding protein, a DNA methylase, an ATPase‐domain protein, and a protein of unknown function. We denote this novel defense system BREX (Bacteriophage Exclusion) and show that it allows phage adsorption but blocks phage DNA replication. Furthermore, our results suggest that methylation on non‐palindromic TAGGAG motifs in the bacterial genome guides self/non‐self discrimination and is essential for the defensive function of the BREX system. However, unlike restriction‐modification systems, phage DNA does not appear to be cleaved or degraded by BREX, suggesting a novel mechanism of defense. Pan genomic analysis revealed that BREX and BREX‐like systems, including the distantly related Pgl system described in Streptomyces coelicolor, are widely distributed in ~10% of all sequenced microbial genomes and can be divided into six coherent subtypes in which the gene composition and order is conserved. Finally, we detected a phage family that evades the BREX defense, implying that anti‐BREX mechanisms may have evolved in some phages as part of their arms race with bacteria.     

An in-vitro study on a novel six-phage cocktail against multi-drug resistant-ESBL Shigella in aquatic environment

Shigella spp. are water-borne pathogens responsible for mild to severe cases bacilli dysentery all around the world known as Shigellosis. The progressively increasing of antibiotic resistance among Shigella calls for developing and establishing novel alternative therapeutic methods. The present study aimed to evaluate a novel phage cocktail of lytic phages against extended spectrum beta lactamase isolates of Shigella species in an aquatic environment. The phage cocktail containing six novel Shigella specific phages showed a broad host spectrum. The cocktail was very stable in aquatic environment. The cocktail resulted in about 99% decrease in the bacterial counts in the contaminated water by several species and strains of Shigella such as Shigella sonnei, Shigella flexneri and Shigella dysenteriae. Achieving such a high efficiency in this in-vitro study demonstrates a high potential for in-vivo and in-situ application of this phage cocktail as a bio-controlling agent against Shigella spp. contamination and infections.     

噬菌体赋形剂的种类、配方及包被技术研究进展

噬菌体制剂的研究与应用受到医药领域、畜牧兽医领域及食品生产在内的各行业的重视。然而,噬菌体作为一种具有蛋白质外壳的活微生物,其在防治致病菌污染、感染及储存运输过程中,会遇到一些活性丧失、储存期短、液体状态运输不便等问题。因此,寻找合适的包被赋形剂,以减少噬菌体在使用、储存及运输过程中的活性损失,是噬菌体疗法亟须解决的问题。本文主要综述制备噬菌体制剂时使用的包被赋形剂种类、配方及包被技术等,及其对噬菌体抗逆性和储存稳定性的影响,并探讨了该领域最重要的研究成果,以期为固态噬菌体制剂寻找合适的包被赋形剂、配方和包被技术,为噬菌体的靶向治疗和控制释放奠定基础,有助于噬菌体治疗的更广泛的临床应用。     

一株屎肠球菌烈性噬菌体的分离鉴定及基因组测序分析

【背景】屎肠球菌为ESKAPE(由屎肠球菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、肺炎克雷伯菌、鲍曼不动杆菌、铜绿假单胞菌和肠杆菌属六大超级细菌的拉丁学名首字母组成)病原体之一,对多种抗菌药物具有耐药性,严重威胁全球人类健康,被世界卫生组织列入亟须研发新抗菌药的病原体名单。【目的】分离针对屎肠球菌的烈性噬菌体,测定其基本生物学特性并进行基因组测序分析,为屎肠球菌噬菌体疗法提供原料。【方法】从牧场污水中分离筛选出一株烈性屎肠球菌噬菌体,命名为Enterococcus phage 1A11,通过透射电镜观察噬菌体的形态,测定其最佳感染复数、一步生长曲线和裂解谱,并进行全基因组的测序和分析,以阐释该噬菌体的基本生物学特性。【结果】电镜下可观察到屎肠球菌噬菌体1A11具有典型的正二十面体头部结构和较长的尾部结构,属于有尾病毒目长尾病毒科,而且测得其最佳感染复数为0.01,裂解周期为70 min,潜伏期为30 min,暴发期为40 min,并特异性地对部分屎肠球菌产生裂解作用。噬菌体1A11的基因组大小为42 750 bp,GC含量为34.71%,含有70个推定的开放阅读框(open reading frame, O...     

A combination therapy of Phages and Antibiotics: Two is better than one

Emergence of antibiotic resistance presents a major setback to global health, and shortage of antibiotic pipelines has created an urgent need for development of alternative therapeutic strategies. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy is considered as a potential approach for treatment of the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Phage-antibiotic synergy (PAS) refers to sublethal concentrations of certain antibiotics that enhance release of progeny phages from bacterial cells. A combination of phages and antibiotics is a promising strategy to reduce the dose of antibiotics and the development of antibiotic resistance during treatment. In this review, we highlight the state-of-the-art advancements of PAS studies, including the analysis of bacterial-killing enhancement, bacterial resistance reduction, and anti-biofilm effect, at both in vitro and in vivo levels. A comprehensive review of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of phage antibiotic synergy is provided, and synthetic biology approaches used to engineer phages, and design novel therapies and diagnostic tools are discussed. In addition, the role of engineered phages in reducing pathogenicity of bacteria is explored.     

重组T4噬菌体gp37基因可扩大其在沙门氏菌中的宿主范围

[目的]将T4噬菌体WG01宿主决定区的gp37基因片段,与另一株T4噬菌体QL01的相应基因进行同源重组,从而获得嵌合噬菌体并进行宿主谱分析,为阐明T4噬菌体的宿主谱形成机制以及快速筛选针对特定病原菌的噬菌体奠定了基础。[方法]通过同源重组的方法将WG01 gp37上的8个基因片段分别替换给QL01,用沙门氏菌作为宿主菌筛选嵌合噬菌体,并对嵌合噬菌体进行宿主谱、最佳感染复数、一步生长曲线和遗传稳定性测定。[结果]本研究共获得了5株嵌合噬菌体(QWA、QWC、QWF、QWG、QWFG)。宿主谱试验结果表明,与噬菌体QL01相比,嵌合噬菌体对21株沙门宿主菌分别可以多裂解7、8、4、10和9株菌,即嵌合噬菌体都获得了相对较宽的宿主谱,其中QWG的沙门氏菌宿主菌拓宽最多。生物学特性试验结果表明,嵌合噬菌体QWG生物学特性稳定。嵌合噬菌体QWG经连续传代培养20代,测序分析第1代和第20代嵌合噬菌体尾丝蛋白基因在传代过程中的稳定性,测序结果表明,嵌合噬菌体改造部分的基因能稳定遗传。[结论]用基因改造的方法可以产生宿主谱拓宽且能稳定遗传的嵌合噬菌体,为快速筛选针对特定病原菌的噬菌体提供了可能。     

噬菌体抗菌治疗安全性评估体系的建立

人类已经进入后抗生素时代,噬菌体治疗近年来重新备受重视,噬菌体制剂不同于传统抗菌药物,已有对传统抗菌药物的安全性评估体系不适合用于对噬菌体治疗制剂的评估,需要建立对噬菌体治疗安全性评估的体系。本文就噬菌体治疗所涉及的安全性问题进行系统分析研究,通过噬菌体本身的选择、噬菌体制剂制备、制剂形式、制剂给予途径、剂量和频次等,以及噬菌体治疗细菌感染性疾病患者选择等所涉及的安全性和噬菌体治疗对周围微环境的影响等进行全面分析。建立噬菌体治疗安全性评估体系,为噬菌体治疗尽早进入临床奠定基础。     

细菌毒素-抗毒素系统在噬菌体流产感染中的作用北大核心CSCD

细菌常受到数量众多的噬菌体感染,宿主细菌在和噬菌体竞赛中进化出多样化的分子策略,流产感染(abortive infection,Abi)是其中之一。毒素-抗毒素系统(toxin-antitoxin system,TA)会在细菌受到压力胁迫时表达并介导细菌的低代谢甚至休眠,还能直接减少子代噬菌体形成。此外,部分毒素序列和结构与Cas蛋白高度同源,噬菌体甚至会编码抗毒素类似物来阻遏对应毒素的活性。这表明流产感染中细菌死亡过程导致的噬菌体感染失败与TA功能高度重合,TA可能是噬菌体侵染宿主的主要阻力和防御力量之一。文中基于TA系统的分类和功能,对参与噬菌体流产感染的TA系统进行了综述,并预测具有流产功能的TA系统和其在抗生素开发和疾病治疗中的应用前景。这有助于认识细菌-噬菌体相互作用,并指导噬菌体治疗和合成生物学。     

Maximizing filamentous phage yield during computer-controlled fermentation

Filamentous phage such as M13 and fd consist of a circular, single-stranded DNA molecule surrounded by several different coat proteins. These phages have been used extensively as vectors in phage display where one of the phage coat proteins is genetically engineered to contain a unique peptide surface loop. Through these peptide sequences, a phage collection can be screened for individual phage that binds to different macromolecules or small organic and inorganic molecules. Here, we use computer-controlled bioreactors to produce large quantities of filamentous phage in the bacterial host Escherichia coli. By measuring phage yield and bacterial growth while changing the growth medium, pH and dissolved oxygen concentration, we found that the optimal conditions for phage yield were NZY medium with pH maintained at 7.4, the dO₂ held at 100% and agitation at 800 rpm. These computer-controlled fermentations result in a minimum of a tenfold higher filamentous phage production compared to standard shake flask conditions.     

一株铅黄肠球菌噬菌体的生物学特性和全基因组分析

【目的】铅黄肠球菌是医源感染的机会致病菌,可引起危及生命的败血症、脑膜炎等,但针对其噬菌体的研究尚属空白。噬菌体作为细菌病毒,具有宿主特异性。本研究首次分离到可培养的铅黄肠球菌烈性噬菌体,对其基因组序列的分析和其他特征研究为进一步探讨噬菌体与宿主的作用机制及治疗应用提供参考。【方法】噬菌体Ecf_virus_SZ01以健康人粪便中分离的铅黄肠球菌(DO55)作为宿主菌,分离自深圳市南山区未经处理的生活污水样本,利用透射电镜观察噬菌体形态并对其生物学特征和基因组特点进行研究。【结果】透射电镜显示,噬菌体Ecf_virus_SZ01头部直径约为106 nm,尾部直径约为150 nm,尾长且无伸缩性尾鞘,属长尾噬菌体科;该噬菌体的最佳感染复数为0.01;一步生长曲线显示,潜伏期约为30 min,每个受感染细胞产生子代的平均数量为50 PFU/cell;抑菌曲线显示MOI=0.01时对宿主菌具有很好的抑制效果;宿主特异性强,不能实现跨属侵染;测序结果显示其基因组为dsDNA,长度为59 409 bp,GC含量为43.2%;该噬菌体共有102个开放阅读框,BLASTn比对显示该噬菌体与NCBI数据库中其他噬菌体相似性极低。【结论】首次分离到宿主为铅黄肠球菌的噬菌体,具有潜伏期短、裂解能力强、宿主专一的特征,基因组与数据库中现有噬菌体相比十分新颖,并对其生物学特性和基因组进行了分析。     

The smallest ssDNA phage infecting a marine bacterium

In the marine environment, only a few lytic single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) phages have been isolated and characterized, despite the fact that diverse ssDNA bacteriophages have been discovered via metagenomic studies. In this study, we isolated and characterized a new ssDNA phage, vB_RpoMi-Mini, which infects a marine bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3. With a genome size of 4248 bp and only four putative open reading frames (ORF), vB_RpoMi-Mini becomes the smallest ssDNA phage among the known ssDNA phage isolates and represents the DNA bacteriophage with the least number of ORFs. Genome-wide analysis reveals that bacteriophage Mini is distantly related to the known ssDNA phages and belongs to an unclassified ssDNA phage within the Microviridae family. The presence of peptidase in vB_RpoMi-Mini genome further implies that horizontal gene transfer could be an important driving force in the evolution of ssDNA phages. Bacteriophage Mini seems to have lost the spike protein commonly seen in ssDNA phages, suggesting that ssDNA phage can be more diverse than previously thought. Metagenomic analysis indicates that Mini-like phages are widely distributed in the environments. The discovery of vB_RpoMi-Mini expands our understanding of ssDNA phages in nature, and also indicates our dearth of knowledge regarding of ssDNA phages.     

Salmonella Enteritidis bacteriophage candidates for phage therapy of poultry

Aims: Salmonella is a worldwide foodborne pathogen causing acute enteric infections in humans. In the recent years, the use of bacteriophages has been suggested as a possible tool to combat this zoonotic pathogen in poultry farms. This work aims to isolate and perform comparative studies of a group of phages active against a collection of specific Salmonella Enteritidis strains from Portugal and England. Also, suitable phage candidates for therapy of poultry will be selected. Methods and Results: The Salm. Enteritidis strains studied were shown to have a significantly high occurrence of defective (cryptic) prophages; however, no live phages were found in the strains. Bacteriophages isolated from different environments lysed all except one of the tested Salm. Enteritidis strains. The bacteriophages studied were divided into different groups according to their genetic homology, RFLP profiles and phenotypic features, and most of them showed no DNA homology with the bacterial hosts. The bacteriophage lytic efficacy proved to be highly dependent on the propagation host strain. Conclusions: Despite the evidences shown in this work that the Salm. Enteritidis strains used did not produce viable phages, we have confirmed that some phages, when grown on particular hosts, behaved as complexes of phages. This is most likely because of the presence of inactive phage‐related genomes (or their parts) in the bacterial strains which are capable of being reactivated or which can recombine with lytic phages. Furthermore, changes of the bacterial hosts used for maintenance of phages must be avoided as these can drastically modify the parameters of the phage preparations, including host range and lytic activity. Significance and Impact of the Study: This work shows that the optimal host and growth conditions must be carefully studied and selected for the production of each bacteriophage candidate for animal therapy.     

Coverage of diarrhoea‐associated Escherichia coli isolates from different origins with two types of phage cocktails

Eighty‐nine T4‐like phages from our phage collection were tested against four collections of childhood diarrhoea‐associated Escherichia coli isolates representing different geographical origins (Mexico versus Bangladesh), serotypes (69 O, 27 H serotypes), pathotypes (ETEC, EPEC, EIEC, EAEC, VTEC, Shigella), epidemiological settings (community and hospitalized diarrhoea) and years of isolation. With a cocktail consisting of 3 to 14 T4‐like phages, we achieved 54% to 69% coverage against predominantly EPEC isolates from Mexico, 30% to 53% against mostly ETEC isolates from a prospective survey in Bangladesh, 24% to 61% against a mixture of pathotypes isolated from hospitalized children in Bangladesh, and 60% coverage against Shigella isolates. In comparison a commercial Russian phage cocktail containing a complex mixture of many different genera of coliphages showed 19%, 33%, 50% and 90% coverage, respectively, against the four above‐mentioned collections. Few O serotype‐specific phages and no broad‐host range phages were detected in our T4‐like phage collection. Interference phenomena between the phage isolates were observed when constituting larger phage cocktails. Since the coverage of a given T4‐like phage cocktail differed with geographical area and epidemiological setting, a phage composition adapted to a local situation is needed for phage therapy approaches against E. coli pathogens.     

Phage-resistant mutations impact bacteria susceptibility to future phage infections and antibiotic response

Bacteriophage (phage) therapy in combination with antibiotic treatment serves as a potential strategy to overcome the continued rise in antibiotic resistance across bacterial pathogens. Understanding the impacts of evolutionary and ecological processes to the phage-antibiotic-resistance dynamic could advance the development of such combinatorial therapy. We tested whether the acquisition of mutations conferring phage resistance may have antagonistically pleiotropic consequences for antibiotic resistance. First, to determine the robustness of phage resistance across different phage strains, we infected resistant Escherichia coli cultures with phage that were not previously encountered. We found that phage-resistant E. coli mutants that gained resistance to a single phage strain maintain resistance to other phages with overlapping adsorption methods. Mutations underlying the phage-resistant phenotype affects lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure and/or synthesis. Because LPS is implicated in both phage infection and antibiotic response, we then determined whether phage-resistant trade-offs exist when challenged with different classes of antibiotics. We found that only 1 out of the 4 phage-resistant E. coli mutants yielded trade-offs between phage and antibiotic resistance. Surprisingly, when challenged with novobiocin, we uncovered evidence of synergistic pleiotropy for some mutants allowing for greater antibiotic resistance, even though antibiotic resistance was never selected for. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the role of selective pressures and pleiotropic interactions in the bacterial response to phage-antibiotic combinatorial therapy.     

Plasmid carriage can limit bacteria–phage coevolution

Coevolution with bacteriophages is a major selective force shaping bacterial populations and communities. A variety of both environmental and genetic factors has been shown to influence the mode and tempo of bacteria–phage coevolution. Here, we test the effects that carriage of a large conjugative plasmid, pQBR103, had on antagonistic coevolution between the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and its phage, SBW25ϕ2. Plasmid carriage limited bacteria–phage coevolution; bacteria evolved lower phage-resistance and phages evolved lower infectivity in plasmid-carrying compared with plasmid-free populations. These differences were not explained by effects of plasmid carriage on the costs of phage resistance mutations. Surprisingly, in the presence of phages, plasmid carriage resulted in the evolution of high frequencies of mucoid bacterial colonies. Mucoidy can provide weak partial resistance against SBW25ϕ2, which may have limited selection for qualitative resistance mutations in our experiments. Taken together, our results suggest that plasmids can have evolutionary consequences for bacteria that go beyond the direct phenotypic effects of their accessory gene cargo.