Pub Date : 2015-04-18eCollection Date: 2015-01-01DOI: 10.1080/21597081.2015.1020260
Stephen T Abedon
It is generally agreed that a bacteriophage-associated phenomenon was first unambiguously observed one-hundred years ago with the findings of Twort in 1915. This was independently followed by complementary observations by d'Hérelle in 1917. D'Hérelle's appreciation of the bacteriophage phenomenon appears to have directly led to the development of phages as antibacterial agents within a variety of contexts, including medical and agricultural. Phage use to combat nuisance bacteria appears to be especially useful where targets are sufficiently problematic, suitably bactericidal phages exist, and alternative approaches are lacking in effectiveness, availability, safety, or cost effectiveness, etc. Phage development as antibacterial agents has been strongest particularly when antibiotics have been less available or useful, e.g., such as in the treatment of chronic infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One relatively under-explored or at least not highly reported use of phages as therapeutic agents has been to combat bacterial infections of the lungs and associated tissues. These infections are diverse in terms of their etiologies, manifestations, and also in terms of potential strategies of phage delivery. Here I review the literature considering the phage therapy of pulmonary and pulmonary-related infections, with emphasis on reports of clinical treatment along with experimental treatment of pulmonary infections using animal models.
{"title":"Phage therapy of pulmonary infections.","authors":"Stephen T Abedon","doi":"10.1080/21597081.2015.1020260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21597081.2015.1020260","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>It is generally agreed that a bacteriophage-associated phenomenon was first unambiguously observed one-hundred years ago with the findings of Twort in 1915. This was independently followed by complementary observations by d'Hérelle in 1917. D'Hérelle's appreciation of the bacteriophage phenomenon appears to have directly led to the development of phages as antibacterial agents within a variety of contexts, including medical and agricultural. Phage use to combat nuisance bacteria appears to be especially useful where targets are sufficiently problematic, suitably bactericidal phages exist, and alternative approaches are lacking in effectiveness, availability, safety, or cost effectiveness, etc. Phage development as antibacterial agents has been strongest particularly when antibiotics have been less available or useful, e.g., such as in the treatment of chronic infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One relatively under-explored or at least not highly reported use of phages as therapeutic agents has been to combat bacterial infections of the lungs and associated tissues. These infections are diverse in terms of their etiologies, manifestations, and also in terms of potential strategies of phage delivery. Here I review the literature considering the phage therapy of pulmonary and pulmonary-related infections, with emphasis on reports of clinical treatment along with experimental treatment of pulmonary infections using animal models.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/21597081.2015.1020260","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34066290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-04-11eCollection Date: 2015-01-01DOI: 10.1080/21597081.2015.1017084
Hans-W Ackermann
Lambda and P22 are members of 2 families of tailed phages and have limited genomic relationships. Both form hybrids with many phages. P22 appears as a hybrid of mixed ancestry. Despite their similarities, lambda and P22 and their relatives form 2 distinct lineages and must be classified separately.
{"title":"The lambda - P22 problem.","authors":"Hans-W Ackermann","doi":"10.1080/21597081.2015.1017084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21597081.2015.1017084","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lambda and P22 are members of 2 families of tailed phages and have limited genomic relationships. Both form hybrids with many phages. P22 appears as a hybrid of mixed ancestry. Despite their similarities, lambda and P22 and their relatives form 2 distinct lineages and must be classified separately.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/21597081.2015.1017084","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34066289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-01-30eCollection Date: 2015-01-01DOI: 10.1080/21597081.2015.1012930
Szabolcs Semsey, Christopher Campion, Abdu Mohamed, Sine Lo Svenningsen
A key event in the lifecycle of a temperate bacteriophage is the choice between lysis and lysogeny upon infection of a susceptible host cell. In a recent paper, we showed that a prolonged period exists after the decision to lysogenize, during which bacteriophage λ can abandon the initial decision, and instead develop lytically, as a response to the accumulation of the late lytic regulatory protein Q. Here, we present evidence that expression of Q does not induce replication of λ DNA, suggesting that the DNA to be packaged into the resulting phage progeny was already present at the time of the initial decision to lysogenize. We summarize our findings in a working model of the key determinants of the duration of the post-decision period during which it is possible for the infected cell to switch from the lysogeny decision to successful lytic development.
{"title":"How long can bacteriophage λ change its mind?","authors":"Szabolcs Semsey, Christopher Campion, Abdu Mohamed, Sine Lo Svenningsen","doi":"10.1080/21597081.2015.1012930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/21597081.2015.1012930","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A key event in the lifecycle of a temperate bacteriophage is the choice between lysis and lysogeny upon infection of a susceptible host cell. In a recent paper, we showed that a prolonged period exists after the decision to lysogenize, during which bacteriophage λ can abandon the initial decision, and instead develop lytically, as a response to the accumulation of the late lytic regulatory protein Q. Here, we present evidence that expression of Q does not induce replication of λ DNA, suggesting that the DNA to be packaged into the resulting phage progeny was already present at the time of the initial decision to lysogenize. We summarize our findings in a working model of the key determinants of the duration of the post-decision period during which it is possible for the infected cell to switch from the lysogeny decision to successful lytic development.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/21597081.2015.1012930","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34252282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-01-26eCollection Date: 2015-01-01DOI: 10.1080/21597081.2014.997143
Robert L Sinsheimer
As a boy in the 1920s and 30s, I was always interested in science. It was an era in which chemists were developing new materials, physicists were developing new instruments and discovering new particles, and engineers were creating new devices (such as radios, airplanes, and refrigerators). As my senior thesis in high school, I researched and wrote a paper on the possibility of transmutation of the elements and of atomic energy. (I did not envision a bomb!) Two high school teachers, one in mathematics and one in chemistry, intrigued and guided my interests, influcening me to enroll at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was a serious, high-intensity school. During my sophomore year, MIT launched a new program in physical and chemical biology that instantly seized my imagination. After four years’ time out for World War II, (radar research and development) I started work research on nucleic acids in 1946. The nature and mode of action of the gene was mysterious and clearly central to biology. The work of Avery, McLeod, and McCarty (1) with Pneumococcus strongly suggested that the genes were DNA. Uber’s work upon ultraviolet-induced mutation suggested that damage to DNA had genetic effects (2). But the structure of DNA and its biochemistry were essentially unknown. The ultraviolet absorption bands of DNA were broad. We sought to narrow them (so as to be able to produce more specific effects) by taking spectra at low temperatures (liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen) (3), but the effects were small. However, upon ultraviolet irradiation of uracil, I discovered a reversible photochemical (4) effect at the same time that Renato Dulbecco discovered a photochemical effect on phage (5). Upon completing my PhD, I obtained a position as Associate Professor of Biophysics at Iowa State (a position earlier held by Uber). To pursue this line of research further it seemed desirable to use deoxynucleotides rather than the purine and pyrimidine bases. At that time the only techniques to isolate deoxynucleotides had yields of about 1%. I developed the technique to obtain 100% yield of nucleotides from DNA (6), and then quantitated and characterized their ultraviolet absorption. I also isolated all of the possible dinucleotides (7). This permitted me to show that (a) the methylcytosine was always adjacent to guanine, and (b) the molar equalities of A and T and of G and C demonstrated by Chargaff (8) could not arise from a sequential order but more likely required two strands of complementary sequence. But I had no proof, only surmise. At this time I realized that if I was to advance further with DNA I needed a biological system in which DNA was active. Bacteriophage, as elucidated by Max Delbruck, was such a system. (Max, at my invitation, had earlier visited at Iowa State to present a series of excellent lectures on bacteriophage.) I was able to take a six month leave of absence from Iowa State, and Max arranged a stipend for me to come to Caltech
{"title":"Life In Science.","authors":"Robert L Sinsheimer","doi":"10.1080/21597081.2014.997143","DOIUrl":"10.1080/21597081.2014.997143","url":null,"abstract":"As a boy in the 1920s and 30s, I was always interested in science. It was an era in which chemists were developing new materials, physicists were developing new instruments and discovering new particles, and engineers were creating new devices (such as radios, airplanes, and refrigerators). As my senior thesis in high school, I researched and wrote a paper on the possibility of transmutation of the elements and of atomic energy. (I did not envision a bomb!) Two high school teachers, one in mathematics and one in chemistry, intrigued and guided my interests, influcening me to enroll at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was a serious, high-intensity school. During my sophomore year, MIT launched a new program in physical and chemical biology that instantly seized my imagination. After four years’ time out for World War II, (radar research and development) I started work research on nucleic acids in 1946. The nature and mode of action of the gene was mysterious and clearly central to biology. The work of Avery, McLeod, and McCarty (1) with Pneumococcus strongly suggested that the genes were DNA. Uber’s work upon ultraviolet-induced mutation suggested that damage to DNA had genetic effects (2). But the structure of DNA and its biochemistry were essentially unknown. The ultraviolet absorption bands of DNA were broad. We sought to narrow them (so as to be able to produce more specific effects) by taking spectra at low temperatures (liquid nitrogen and liquid hydrogen) (3), but the effects were small. However, upon ultraviolet irradiation of uracil, I discovered a reversible photochemical (4) effect at the same time that Renato Dulbecco discovered a photochemical effect on phage (5). Upon completing my PhD, I obtained a position as Associate Professor of Biophysics at Iowa State (a position earlier held by Uber). To pursue this line of research further it seemed desirable to use deoxynucleotides rather than the purine and pyrimidine bases. At that time the only techniques to isolate deoxynucleotides had yields of about 1%. I developed the technique to obtain 100% yield of nucleotides from DNA (6), and then quantitated and characterized their ultraviolet absorption. I also isolated all of the possible dinucleotides (7). This permitted me to show that (a) the methylcytosine was always adjacent to guanine, and (b) the molar equalities of A and T and of G and C demonstrated by Chargaff (8) could not arise from a sequential order but more likely required two strands of complementary sequence. But I had no proof, only surmise. At this time I realized that if I was to advance further with DNA I needed a biological system in which DNA was active. Bacteriophage, as elucidated by Max Delbruck, was such a system. (Max, at my invitation, had earlier visited at Iowa State to present a series of excellent lectures on bacteriophage.) I was able to take a six month leave of absence from Iowa State, and Max arranged a stipend for me to come to Caltech ","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2015-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/21597081.2014.997143","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34066291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Food-borne illnesses caused by bacteria such as enterohemorrhagic E. coli and Salmonella spp. take a significant toll on American consumers' health; they also cost the United States an estimated $77.7 billion annually in health care and other losses.1 One novel modality for improving the safety of foods is application of lytic bacteriophages directly onto foods, in order to reduce or eliminate their contamination with specific foodborne bacterial pathogens. The main objective of this study was to assess consumers' perception about foods treated with bacteriophages and examine their willingness to pay (WTP) an additional amount (10-30 cents/lb) for bacteriophage-treated fresh produce. The study utilized a survey questionnaire administered by telephone to consumers in 4 different states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The results show that consumers are in general willing to pay extra for bacteriophage-treated fresh produce if it improves their food safety. However, income, race, and the state where a consumer lives are significant determinants in their WTP.
{"title":"Evaluation of consumers' perception and willingness to pay for bacteriophage treated fresh produce.","authors":"Cephas Naanwaab, Osei-Agyeman Yeboah, Foster Ofori Kyei, Alexander Sulakvelidze, Ipek Goktepe","doi":"10.4161/21597081.2014.979662","DOIUrl":"10.4161/21597081.2014.979662","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Food-borne illnesses caused by bacteria such as enterohemorrhagic <i>E. coli</i> and <i>Salmonella</i> spp. take a significant toll on American consumers' health; they also cost the United States an estimated $77.7 billion annually in health care and other losses.<sup>1</sup> One novel modality for improving the safety of foods is application of lytic bacteriophages directly onto foods, in order to reduce or eliminate their contamination with specific foodborne bacterial pathogens. The main objective of this study was to assess consumers' perception about foods treated with bacteriophages and examine their willingness to pay (WTP) an additional amount (10-30 cents/lb) for bacteriophage-treated fresh produce. The study utilized a survey questionnaire administered by telephone to consumers in 4 different states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The results show that consumers are in general willing to pay extra for bacteriophage-treated fresh produce if it improves their food safety. However, income, race, and the state where a consumer lives are significant determinants in their WTP.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4589987/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74386221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-16eCollection Date: 2014-01-01DOI: 10.4161/21597081.2014.980125
Olivier Zablocki, Lonnie van Zyl, Evelien M Adriaenssens, Enrico Rubagotti, Marla Tuffin, Stephen C Cary, Don Cowan
The metaviromes from 2 different Antarctic terrestrial soil niches have been analyzed. Both hypoliths (microbial assemblages beneath transluscent rocks) and surrounding open soils showed a high level diversity of tailed phages, viruses of algae and amoeba, and virophage sequences. Comparisons of other global metaviromes with the Antarctic libraries showed a niche-dependent clustering pattern, unrelated to the geographical origin of a given metavirome. Within the Antarctic open soil metavirome, a putative circularly permuted, ∼42kb dsDNA virus genome was annotated, showing features of a temperate phage possessing a variety of conserved protein domains with no significant taxonomic affiliations in current databases.
{"title":"Niche-dependent genetic diversity in Antarctic metaviromes.","authors":"Olivier Zablocki, Lonnie van Zyl, Evelien M Adriaenssens, Enrico Rubagotti, Marla Tuffin, Stephen C Cary, Don Cowan","doi":"10.4161/21597081.2014.980125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4161/21597081.2014.980125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The metaviromes from 2 different Antarctic terrestrial soil niches have been analyzed. Both hypoliths (microbial assemblages beneath transluscent rocks) and surrounding open soils showed a high level diversity of tailed phages, viruses of algae and amoeba, and virophage sequences. Comparisons of other global metaviromes with the Antarctic libraries showed a niche-dependent clustering pattern, unrelated to the geographical origin of a given metavirome. Within the Antarctic open soil metavirome, a putative circularly permuted, ∼42kb dsDNA virus genome was annotated, showing features of a temperate phage possessing a variety of conserved protein domains with no significant taxonomic affiliations in current databases.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4161/21597081.2014.980125","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34147502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-15eCollection Date: 2014-01-01DOI: 10.4161/21597081.2014.979664
Bas E Dutilh
Sequencing DNA or RNA directly from the environment often results in many sequencing reads that have no homologs in the database. These are referred to as "unknowns," and reflect the vast unexplored microbial sequence space of our biosphere, also known as "biological dark matter." However, unknowns also exist because metagenomic datasets are not optimally mined. There is a pressure on researchers to publish and move on, and the unknown sequences are often left for what they are, and conclusions drawn based on reads with annotated homologs. This can cause abundant and widespread genomes to be overlooked, such as the recently discovered human gut bacteriophage crAssphage. The unknowns may be enriched for bacteriophage sequences, the most abundant and genetically diverse component of the biosphere and of sequence space. However, it remains an open question, what is the actual size of biological sequence space? The de novo assembly of shotgun metagenomes is the most powerful tool to address this question.
{"title":"Metagenomic ventures into outer sequence space.","authors":"Bas E Dutilh","doi":"10.4161/21597081.2014.979664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4161/21597081.2014.979664","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sequencing DNA or RNA directly from the environment often results in many sequencing reads that have no homologs in the database. These are referred to as \"unknowns,\" and reflect the vast unexplored microbial sequence space of our biosphere, also known as \"biological dark matter.\" However, unknowns also exist because metagenomic datasets are not optimally mined. There is a pressure on researchers to publish and move on, and the unknown sequences are often left for what they are, and conclusions drawn based on reads with annotated homologs. This can cause abundant and widespread genomes to be overlooked, such as the recently discovered human gut bacteriophage crAssphage. The unknowns may be enriched for bacteriophage sequences, the most abundant and genetically diverse component of the biosphere and of sequence space. However, it remains an open question, what is the actual size of biological sequence space? The de novo assembly of shotgun metagenomes is the most powerful tool to address this question.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.4161/21597081.2014.979664","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"34079998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-12-15eCollection Date: 2014-01-01DOI: 10.4161/21597073.2014.961869
Philip Serwer, Elena T Wright, Juan T Chang, Xiangan Liu
Drug development has typically been a primary foundation of strategy for systematic, long-range management of pathogenic cells. However, drug development is limited in speed and flexibility when response is needed to changes in pathogenic cells, especially changes that produce drug-resistance. The high replication speed and high diversity of phages are potentially useful for increasing both response speed and response flexibility when changes occur in either drug resistance or other aspects of pathogenic cells. We present strategy, with some empirical details, for (1) using modern molecular biology and biophysics to access these advantages during the phage therapy of bacterial infections, and (2) initiating use of phage capsid-based drug delivery vehicles (DDVs) with procedures that potentially overcome both drug resistance and other present limitations in the use of DDVs for the therapy of neoplasms. The discussion of phage therapy includes (a) historical considerations, (b) changes that appear to be needed in clinical tests if use of phage therapy is to be expanded, (c) recent work on novel phages and its potential use for expanding the capabilities of phage therapy and (d) an outline for a strategy that encompasses both theory and practice for expanding the applications of phage therapy. The discussion of DDVs starts by reviewing current work on DDVs, including work on both liposomal and viral DDVs. The discussion concludes with some details of the potential use of permeability constrained phage capsids as DDVs.
{"title":"Enhancing and initiating phage-based therapies.","authors":"Philip Serwer, Elena T Wright, Juan T Chang, Xiangan Liu","doi":"10.4161/21597073.2014.961869","DOIUrl":"10.4161/21597073.2014.961869","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drug development has typically been a primary foundation of strategy for systematic, long-range management of pathogenic cells. However, drug development is limited in speed and flexibility when response is needed to changes in pathogenic cells, especially changes that produce drug-resistance. The high replication speed and high diversity of phages are potentially useful for increasing both response speed and response flexibility when changes occur in either drug resistance or other aspects of pathogenic cells. We present strategy, with some empirical details, for (1) using modern molecular biology and biophysics to access these advantages during the phage therapy of bacterial infections, and (2) initiating use of phage capsid-based drug delivery vehicles (DDVs) with procedures that potentially overcome both drug resistance and other present limitations in the use of DDVs for the therapy of neoplasms. The discussion of phage therapy includes (a) historical considerations, (b) changes that appear to be needed in clinical tests if use of phage therapy is to be expanded, (c) recent work on novel phages and its potential use for expanding the capabilities of phage therapy and (d) an outline for a strategy that encompasses both theory and practice for expanding the applications of phage therapy. The discussion of DDVs starts by reviewing current work on DDVs, including work on both liposomal and viral DDVs. The discussion concludes with some details of the potential use of permeability constrained phage capsids as DDVs.</p>","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4588221/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89693279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-10-31DOI: 10.4161/21597073.2014.960346
D. Arutyunov, U. Singh, Amr M. El-Hawiet, H. Seckler, Sanaz Nikjah, M. Joe, Yu Bai, T. Lowary, John S. Klassen, S. Evoy, C. Szymanski
Slow growing Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a deadly condition in cattle known as Johne's disease where asymptomatic carriers are the major source of disease transmission. MAP was also shown to be associated with chronic Crohn's disease in humans. Mycobacterium smegmatis is a model mycobacterium that can cause opportunistic infections in a number of human tissues and, rarely, a respiratory disease. Currently, there are no rapid, culture-independent, reliable and inexpensive tests for the diagnostics of MAP or M. smegmatis infections. Bacteriophages are viruses producing a number of proteins that effectively and specifically recognize the cell envelopes of their bacterial hosts. We demonstrate that the mycobacterial phage L5 minor tail protein Gp6 and lysin Gp10 are useful tools for the rapid capture of mycobacteria. Immobilized Gp10 was able to bind both MAP and M. smegmatis cells whereas Gp6 was M. smegmatis specific. Neither of the 2 proteins was able to capture E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter or Mycobacterium marinum cells. Gp6 was detected previously as a component of the phage particle and shows no homology to proteins with known function. Therefore, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used to determine whether recombinant Gp6 could bind to a number of chemically synthesized fragments of mycobacterial surface glycans. These findings demonstrate that mycobacteriophage proteins could be used as a pathogen capturing platform that can potentially improve the effectiveness of existing diagnostic methods.
{"title":"Mycobacteriophage cell binding proteins for the capture of mycobacteria","authors":"D. Arutyunov, U. Singh, Amr M. El-Hawiet, H. Seckler, Sanaz Nikjah, M. Joe, Yu Bai, T. Lowary, John S. Klassen, S. Evoy, C. Szymanski","doi":"10.4161/21597073.2014.960346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4161/21597073.2014.960346","url":null,"abstract":"Slow growing Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a deadly condition in cattle known as Johne's disease where asymptomatic carriers are the major source of disease transmission. MAP was also shown to be associated with chronic Crohn's disease in humans. Mycobacterium smegmatis is a model mycobacterium that can cause opportunistic infections in a number of human tissues and, rarely, a respiratory disease. Currently, there are no rapid, culture-independent, reliable and inexpensive tests for the diagnostics of MAP or M. smegmatis infections. Bacteriophages are viruses producing a number of proteins that effectively and specifically recognize the cell envelopes of their bacterial hosts. We demonstrate that the mycobacterial phage L5 minor tail protein Gp6 and lysin Gp10 are useful tools for the rapid capture of mycobacteria. Immobilized Gp10 was able to bind both MAP and M. smegmatis cells whereas Gp6 was M. smegmatis specific. Neither of the 2 proteins was able to capture E. coli, salmonella, campylobacter or Mycobacterium marinum cells. Gp6 was detected previously as a component of the phage particle and shows no homology to proteins with known function. Therefore, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used to determine whether recombinant Gp6 could bind to a number of chemically synthesized fragments of mycobacterial surface glycans. These findings demonstrate that mycobacteriophage proteins could be used as a pathogen capturing platform that can potentially improve the effectiveness of existing diagnostic methods.","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89519879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2014-10-31DOI: 10.4161/21597081.2014.975540
G. Richards
Bacteriophages have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotic usage and several studies on their application in aquaculture have been reported. This review highlights progress to date on phage therapies for the following fish and shellfish diseases and associated pathogens: hemorrhagic septicemia (Aeromonas hydrophila) in loaches, furunculosis (Aeromonas salmonicida) in trout and salmon, edwardsiellosis (Edwardsiella tarda) in eel, columnaris disease (Flavobacterium columnare) in catfish, rainbow trout fry syndrome or cold water disease (Flavobacterium psychrophilum) in trout and salmon, lactococcosis (Lactococcus spp.) in yellowtail, ulcerative skin lesions (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in freshwater catfish, bacterial hemorrhagic ascites disease (Pseudomonas plecoglossicida) in ayu fish, streptococcosis (Streptococcus iniae) in flounder, and luminescent vibriosis (Vibrio harveyi) in shrimp. Information is reviewed on phage specificity, host resistance, routes of administration, and dosing of fish and shellfish. Limitations in phage research are described and recommended guidelines are provided for conducting future phage studies involving fish and shellfish.
{"title":"Bacteriophage remediation of bacterial pathogens in aquaculture: a review of the technology","authors":"G. Richards","doi":"10.4161/21597081.2014.975540","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4161/21597081.2014.975540","url":null,"abstract":"Bacteriophages have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotic usage and several studies on their application in aquaculture have been reported. This review highlights progress to date on phage therapies for the following fish and shellfish diseases and associated pathogens: hemorrhagic septicemia (Aeromonas hydrophila) in loaches, furunculosis (Aeromonas salmonicida) in trout and salmon, edwardsiellosis (Edwardsiella tarda) in eel, columnaris disease (Flavobacterium columnare) in catfish, rainbow trout fry syndrome or cold water disease (Flavobacterium psychrophilum) in trout and salmon, lactococcosis (Lactococcus spp.) in yellowtail, ulcerative skin lesions (Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in freshwater catfish, bacterial hemorrhagic ascites disease (Pseudomonas plecoglossicida) in ayu fish, streptococcosis (Streptococcus iniae) in flounder, and luminescent vibriosis (Vibrio harveyi) in shrimp. Information is reviewed on phage specificity, host resistance, routes of administration, and dosing of fish and shellfish. Limitations in phage research are described and recommended guidelines are provided for conducting future phage studies involving fish and shellfish.","PeriodicalId":8686,"journal":{"name":"Bacteriophage","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91049712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}