Novel Bacteriophage Specific against Staphylococcus epidermidis and with Antibiofilm Activity.
Rima Fanaei PirlarJeroen WagemansLuis Ponce BenaventeRob LavigneAndrej TrampuzMercedes Gonzalez MorenoPublished in: Viruses (2022)
Staphylococcus epidermidis has emerged as the most important pathogen in infections related to indwelling medical devices, and although these infections are not life-threatening, their frequency and the fact that they are extremely difficult to treat represent a serious burden on the public health system. Treatment is complicated by specific antibiotic resistance genes and the formation of biofilms. Hence, novel therapeutic strategies are needed to fight these infections. A novel bacteriophage CUB-EPI_14 specific to the bacterial species S. epidermidis was isolated from sewage and characterized genomically and phenotypically. Its genome contains a total of 46,098 bp and 63 predicted genes, among which some have been associated with packaging and lysis-associated proteins, structural proteins, or DNA- and metabolism-associated proteins. No lysogeny-associated proteins or known virulence proteins were identified in the phage genome. CUB-EPI_14 showed stability over a wide range of temperatures (from -20 °C to 50 °C) and pH values (pH 3-pH 12) and a narrow host range against S. epidermidis . Potent antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities were observed when the phage was tested against a highly susceptible bacterial isolate. These encouraging results open the door to new therapeutic opportunities in the fight against resilient biofilm-associated infections caused by S. epidermidis .
Keyphrases
- biofilm formation
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- candida albicans
- staphylococcus aureus
- escherichia coli
- antibiotic resistance genes
- cystic fibrosis
- genome wide
- healthcare
- wastewater treatment
- microbial community
- emergency department
- gene expression
- transcription factor
- dna methylation
- single molecule
- combination therapy
- drug induced
- anaerobic digestion
- bioinformatics analysis