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Soro O, Kigen C, Nyerere A, Gachoya M, Georges M, Odoyo E, Musila L. Characterization and Anti-Biofilm Activity of Lytic Enterococcus Phage vB_Efs8_KEN04 against Clinical Isolates of Multidrug-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis in Kenya. Viruses 2024; 16:1275. [PMID: 39205249 PMCID: PMC11360260 DOI: 10.3390/v16081275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is a growing cause of nosocomial and antibiotic-resistant infections. Treating drug-resistant E. faecalis requires novel approaches. The use of bacteriophages (phages) against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria has recently garnered global attention. Biofilms play a vital role in E. faecalis pathogenesis as they enhance antibiotic resistance. Phages eliminate biofilms by producing lytic enzymes, including depolymerases. In this study, Enterococcus phage vB_Efs8_KEN04, isolated from a sewage treatment plant in Nairobi, Kenya, was tested against clinical strains of MDR E. faecalis. This phage had a broad host range against 100% (26/26) of MDR E. faecalis clinical isolates and cross-species activity against Enterococcus faecium. It was able to withstand acidic and alkaline conditions, from pH 3 to 11, as well as temperatures between -80 °C and 37 °C. It could inhibit and disrupt the biofilms of MDR E. faecalis. Its linear double-stranded DNA genome of 142,402 bp contains 238 coding sequences with a G + C content and coding gene density of 36.01% and 91.46%, respectively. Genomic analyses showed that phage vB_Efs8_KEN04 belongs to the genus Kochikohdavirus in the family Herelleviridae. It lacked antimicrobial resistance, virulence, and lysogeny genes, and its stability, broad host range, and cross-species lysis indicate strong potential for the treatment of Enterococcus infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oumarou Soro
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology, and Innovation, Nairobi P.O. Box 62000-00200, Kenya;
| | - Collins Kigen
- Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Nairobi P.O. Box 606-00621, Kenya; (C.K.); (M.G.); (M.G.); (E.O.)
- Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. Box 54840-00200, Kenya
| | - Andrew Nyerere
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi P.O. Box 62000-00200, Kenya;
| | - Moses Gachoya
- Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Nairobi P.O. Box 606-00621, Kenya; (C.K.); (M.G.); (M.G.); (E.O.)
- Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. Box 54840-00200, Kenya
| | - Martin Georges
- Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Nairobi P.O. Box 606-00621, Kenya; (C.K.); (M.G.); (M.G.); (E.O.)
- Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. Box 54840-00200, Kenya
| | - Erick Odoyo
- Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Nairobi P.O. Box 606-00621, Kenya; (C.K.); (M.G.); (M.G.); (E.O.)
- Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. Box 54840-00200, Kenya
| | - Lillian Musila
- Department of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Africa, Nairobi P.O. Box 606-00621, Kenya; (C.K.); (M.G.); (M.G.); (E.O.)
- Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. Box 54840-00200, Kenya
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Britton AP, Visser KA, Ongenae VMA, Zhang P, Wassink H, Doerksen TA, Welke CA, Lynch KH, van Belkum MJ, Dennis JJ, Yang X, Claessen D, Briegel A, Martin-Visscher LA. Characterization of Bacteriophage cd2, a Siphophage Infecting Carnobacterium divergens and a Representative Species of a New Genus of Phage. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0097323. [PMID: 37458599 PMCID: PMC10434151 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00973-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Carnobacterium divergens is frequently isolated from natural environments and is a predominant species found in refrigerated foods, particularly meat, seafood, and dairy. While there is substantial interest in using C. divergens as biopreservatives and/or probiotics, some strains are known to be fish pathogens, and the uncontrolled growth of C. divergens has been associated with food spoilage. Bacteriophages offer a selective approach to identify and control the growth of bacteria; however, to date, few phages targeting C. divergens have been reported. In this study, we characterize bacteriophage cd2, which we recently isolated from minced beef. A detailed host range study reveals that phage cd2 infects certain phylogenetic groups of C. divergens. This phage has a latent period of 60 min and a burst size of ~28 PFU/infected cell. The phage was found to be acid and heat sensitive, with a complete loss of phage activity when stored at pH 2 or heated to 60°C. Electron microscopy shows that phage cd2 is a siphophage, and while it shares the B3 morphotype with a unique cluster of Listeria and Enterococcus phages, a comparison of genomes reveals that phage cd2 comprises a new genus of phage, which we have termed as Carnodivirus. IMPORTANCE Currently, very little is known about phages that infect carnobacteria, an important genus of lactic acid bacteria with both beneficial and detrimental effects in the food and aquaculture industries. This report provides a detailed characterization of phage cd2, a novel siphophage that targets Carnobacterium divergens, and sets the groundwork for understanding the biology of these phages and their potential use in the detection and biocontrol of C. divergens isolates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelle P. Britton
- Department of Chemistry, The King’s University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kaitlyn A. Visser
- Department of Chemistry, The King’s University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Véronique M. A. Ongenae
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Centre for Microbial Cell Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Peipei Zhang
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
| | - Heather Wassink
- Department of Chemistry, The King’s University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Thomas A. Doerksen
- Department of Chemistry, The King’s University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Catherine A. Welke
- Department of Chemistry, The King’s University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Karlene H. Lynch
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | | | - Jonathan J. Dennis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Xianqin Yang
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
| | - Dennis Claessen
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Centre for Microbial Cell Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Ariane Briegel
- Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- Centre for Microbial Cell Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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Evseev P, Lukianova A, Tarakanov R, Tokmakova A, Popova A, Kulikov E, Shneider M, Ignatov A, Miroshnikov K. Prophage-Derived Regions in Curtobacterium Genomes: Good Things, Small Packages. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:1586. [PMID: 36675099 PMCID: PMC9862828 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24021586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Curtobacterium is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria within the order Actinomycetales. Some Curtobacterium species (C. flaccumfaciens, C. plantarum) are harmful pathogens of agricultural crops such as soybean, dry beans, peas, sugar beet and beetroot, which occur throughout the world. Bacteriophages (bacterial viruses) are considered to be potential curative agents to control the spread of harmful bacteria. Temperate bacteriophages integrate their genomes into bacterial chromosomes (prophages), sometimes substantially influencing bacterial lifestyle and pathogenicity. About 200 publicly available genomes of Curtobacterium species, including environmental metagenomic sequences, were inspected for the presence of sequences of possible prophage origin using bioinformatic methods. The comparison of the search results with several ubiquitous bacterial groups showed the relatively low level of the presence of prophage traces in Curtobacterium genomes. Genomic and phylogenetic analyses were undertaken for the evaluation of the evolutionary and taxonomic positioning of predicted prophages. The analyses indicated the relatedness of Curtobacterium prophage-derived sequences with temperate actinophages of siphoviral morphology. In most cases, the predicted prophages can represent novel phage taxa not described previously. One of the predicted temperate phages was induced from the Curtobacterium genome. Bioinformatic analysis of the modelled proteins encoded in prophage-derived regions led to the discovery of some 100 putative glycopolymer-degrading enzymes that contained enzymatic domains with predicted cell-wall- and cell-envelope-degrading activity; these included glycosidases and peptidases. These proteins can be considered for the experimental design of new antibacterials against Curtobacterium phytopathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Evseev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Lukianova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Rashit Tarakanov
- Department of Plant Protection, Russian State Agrarian University—Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, Timiryazevskaya Str. 49, 127434 Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna Tokmakova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 117997 Moscow, Russia
- School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology National Research University, Institutskiy Per, 9, 141701 Dolgoprudny, Russia
| | - Anastasia Popova
- State Research Center for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 142279 Obolensk, Russia
| | - Eugene Kulikov
- School of Biological and Medical Physics, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology National Research University, Institutskiy Per, 9, 141701 Dolgoprudny, Russia
- Research Center of Biotechnology, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Prosp. 60-letia Oktyabrya, 7-2, 117312 Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikhail Shneider
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 117997 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander Ignatov
- Agrobiotechnology Department, Agrarian and Technological Institute, RUDN University, Miklukho-Maklaya Str. 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia
| | - Konstantin Miroshnikov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya Str., 117997 Moscow, Russia
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Zamboni F, Wong CK, Collins MN. Hyaluronic acid association with bacterial, fungal and viral infections: Can hyaluronic acid be used as an antimicrobial polymer for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications? Bioact Mater 2023; 19:458-473. [PMID: 35574061 PMCID: PMC9079116 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.04.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 41.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 04/05/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationships between hyaluronic acid (HA) and pathological microorganisms incite new understandings on microbial infection, tissue penetration, disease progression and lastly, potential treatments. These understandings are important for the advancement of next generation antimicrobial therapeutical strategies for the control of healthcare-associated infections. Herein, this review will focus on the interplay between HA, bacteria, fungi, and viruses. This review will also comprehensively detail and discuss the antimicrobial activity displayed by various HA molecular weights for a variety of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, including microbiology, pharmaceutics, and tissue engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernanda Zamboni
- Bernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland
| | - Chun Kwok Wong
- Department of Chemical Pathology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Maurice N. Collins
- Bernal Institute, School of Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland
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