Abstract
Yersinia (Y.) enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis are important zoonotic agents which can infect both humans and animals. To combat these pathogens, the application of strictly lytic phages may be a promising tool. Since only few Yersinia phages have been described yet, some of which demonstrated a high specificity for certain serotypes, we isolated two phages from game animals and characterized them in terms of their morphology, host specificity, lytic activity on two bio-/serotypes and genome composition. The T7-related podovirus vB_YenP_Rambo and the myovirus vB_YenM_P281, which is very similar to a previously described phage PY100, showed a broad host range. Together, they lysed all the 62 tested pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains belonging to the most important bio-/serotypes in Europe. A cocktail containing these two phages strongly reduced cultures of a bio-/serotype B4/O:3 and a B2/O:9 strain, even at very low MOIs (multiplicity of infection) and different temperatures, though, lysis of bio-/serotype B2/O:9 by vB_YenM_P281 and also by the related phage PY100 only occurred at 37 °C. Both phages were additionally able to lyse various Y. pseudotuberculosis strains at 28 °C and 37 °C, but only when the growth medium was supplemented with calcium and magnesium cations.
Highlights
The genus Yersinia is currently composed of 28 species, three of which are known to be pathogenic for humans
The Phages Isolated from Game Exhibit Podovirus and Myovirus Morphology
Our first studies on the host range of this phage disclosed significant differences from PY100. This mainly pertained to the lytic activity on Y. enterocolitica O:9 strains and Y. pseudotuberculosis, which were reported to be susceptible to PY100 [34], though our experiments showed that both vB_YenM_P281 and PY100 were only able to lyse Y. enterocolitica O:9 at 37 ◦ C, but not at 28 ◦ C, which has been suggested to be the optimal temperature for Yersinia [40]
Summary
The genus Yersinia is currently composed of 28 species, three of which are known to be pathogenic for humans (https://lpsn.dsmz.de/genus/yersinia; access date: 22 May2021). In Europe and many other countries, the presence of Y. enterocolitica is clearly associated with pigs [4,5]. Infections by this species may be caused by the consumption of raw or insufficiently cooked pork [6]. In most European countries, strains belonging to bio-/serotype B4/O:3 prevail. Biotype 1A strains, which frequently occur in the environment and food, are regarded as nonpathogenic. Those strains lack important virulence factors encoded by a chromosome or by a virulence plasmid (pYV)
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