Bacteriophages with the Ability to Degrade Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli Biofilms

Viruses

Andrew Chibeu⁴  Erika J. Lingohr⁴  Luke Masson²  Amee Manges⁵  Josພ Harel³  Hans-W. Ackermann¹  Andrew M. Kropinski⁴ 

[1] Felix d’Herelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectionlogy, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, QC, G1K 4C6, Canada;Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Avenue, Montréal, QC, H4P 2R2, Canada;Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc (GREMIP) and Centre de Recherche en infectiologie porcine (CRIP), Université de Montréal, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, J2S 7C6, Canada;Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, ON, N1G 3W4, Canada;Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, 1020 avenue des Pins Ouest, Montréal, QC, H3A 1A2, Canada;

关键词: UPEC;    bacteriophage;    biofilms;   

DOI  :  10.3390/v4040471

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Escherichia coli-associated urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in humans. UTIs are usually managed with antibiotic therapy, but over the years, antibiotic-resistant strains of uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) have emerged. The formation of biofilms further complicates the treatment of these infections by making them resistant to killing by the host immune system as well as by antibiotics. This has encouraged research into therapy using bacteriophages (phages) as a supplement or substitute for antibiotics. In this study we characterized 253 UPEC in terms of their biofilm-forming capabilities, serotype, and antimicrobial resistance. Three phages were then isolated (vB_EcoP_ACG-C91, vB_EcoM_ACG-C40 and vB_EcoS_ACG-M12) which were able to lyse 80.5% of a subset (42) of the UPEC strains able to form biofilms. Correlation was established between phage sensitivity and specific serotypes of the UPEC strains. The phages’ genome sequences were determined and resulted in classification of vB_EcoP_ACG-C91 as a SP6likevirus, vB_EcoM_ACG-C40 as a T4likevirus and vB_EcoS_ACG-M12 as T1likevirus. We assessed the ability of the three phages to eradicate the established biofilm of one of the UPEC strains used in the study. All phages significantly reduced the biofilm within 2–12 h of incubation.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.