1. A diverse set of Enterococcus-infecting phage provides insight into phage host-range determinants.
- Author
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Alrafaie AM, Pyrzanowska K, Smith EM, Partridge DG, Rafferty J, Mesnage S, Shepherd J, and Stafford GP
- Subjects
- Enterococcus faecium virology, Enterococcus faecium genetics, Enterococcus virology, Enterococcus genetics, Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci virology, Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci genetics, Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections microbiology, Humans, Bacteriophages genetics, Bacteriophages physiology, Bacteriophages classification, Bacteriophages isolation & purification, Host Specificity, Genome, Viral, Enterococcus faecalis virology, Enterococcus faecalis genetics
- Abstract
Enterococci are robust Gram-positive bacteria that pose a significant threat in healthcare settings due to antibiotic resistance, with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) most prominent. To tackle this issue, bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) can be exploited as they specifically and efficiently target bacteria. Here, we successfully isolated and characterised a set of novel phages: SHEF10, SHEF11, SHEF13, SHEF14, and SHEF16 which target E. faecalis (SHEF10,11,13), or E. faecium (SHEF13, SHEF14 & SHEF16) strains including a range of clinical and VRE isolates. Genomic analysis shows that all phages are strictly lytic and diverse in terms of genome size and content, quickly and effectively lysing strains at different multiplicity of infections. Detailed analysis of the broad host-range SHEF13 phage revealed the crucial role of the enterococcal polysaccharide antigen (EPA) variable region in its infection of E. faecalis V583. In parallel, the discovery of a carbohydrate-targeting domain (CBM22) found conserved within the three phage genomes indicates a role in cell surface interactions that may be important in phage-bacterial interactons. These findings advance our comprehension of phage-host interactions and pave the way for targeted therapeutic strategies against antibiotic-resistant enterococcal infections., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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