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Susceptibility of Virulent Yersinia pestis Bacteria to Predator Bacteria in the Lungs of Mice

Authors :
Riccardo Russo
Irina Kolesnikova
Thomas Kim
Shilpi Gupta
Androulla Pericleous
Daniel E. Kadouri
Nancy D. Connell
Source :
Microorganisms, Vol 7, Iss 1, p 2 (2018)
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2018.

Abstract

Multi-drug resistant bacterial infections are a serious threat to global public health. Changes in treatment modalities and prudent use of antibiotics can assist in reducing the threat, but new approaches are also required for untreatable cases. The use of predatory bacteria, such as Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus, is among the novel approaches being considered as possible therapeutics for antibiotic resistant and/or unidentified bacterial infections. Previous studies have examined the feasibility of using predatory bacteria to reduce colony-forming units (CFUs) in the lungs of rats exposed to lethal doses of Klebsiella pneumoniae; here we apply the approach to the Tier 1 select agent Yersinia pestis, and show that three doses of B. bacteriovorus introduced every six hours reduces the number of CFUs of Y. pestis in the lungs of inoculated mice by 86% after 24 h of infection. These experiments further demonstrate that predatory bacteria may serve to combat Gram negative bacterial infections, including those considered potential bioweapon agents, in the future.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762607
Volume :
7
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Microorganisms
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.8c125efdc8cd40d08f326930942ec463
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7010002