Abstract
BackgroundA rapid worldwide increase in the number of human infections caused by the extremely antibiotic resistant bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is prompting alarm. One potential treatment solution to the current antibiotic resistance dilemma is “phage therapy”, the clinical application of bacteriophages to selectively kill bacteria.ResultsTowards that end, phages DLP1 and DLP2 (vB_SmaS-DLP_1 and vB_SmaS-DLP_2, respectively) were isolated against S. maltophilia strain D1585. Host range analysis for each phage was conducted using 27 clinical S. maltophilia isolates and 11 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. Both phages exhibit unusually broad host ranges capable of infecting bacteria across taxonomic orders. Transmission electron microscopy of the phage DLP1 and DLP2 morphology reveals that they belong to the Siphoviridae family of bacteriophages. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and complete genome sequencing and analysis indicates that phages DLP1 and DLP2 are closely related but different phages, sharing 96.7 % identity over 97.2 % of their genomes. These two phages are also related to P. aeruginosa phages vB_Pae-Kakheti_25 (PA25), PA73, and vB_PaeS_SCH_Ab26 (Ab26) and more distantly related to Burkholderia cepacia complex phage KL1, which together make up a taxonomic sub-family. Phages DLP1 and DLP2 exhibited significant differences in host ranges and growth kinetics.ConclusionsThe isolation and characterization of phages able to infect two completely different species of bacteria is an exciting discovery, as phages typically can only infect related bacterial species, and rarely infect bacteria across taxonomic families, let alone across taxonomic orders.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1848-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
A rapid worldwide increase in the number of human infections caused by the extremely antibiotic resistant bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is prompting alarm
Host range and morphology Using S. maltophilia strain D1585, phages DLP1 and DLP2 were isolated from Red Deer River sediment and soil planted with blue flax (Linum lewisii), respectively
In contrast to the characterized S. maltophilia phages isolated from clinical settings, sewage samples and lysogenic bacteria [22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30], DLP1 and DLP2 are the first phages to be isolated from sediment and soil
Summary
A rapid worldwide increase in the number of human infections caused by the extremely antibiotic resistant bacterium Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is prompting alarm. One potential treatment solution to the current antibiotic resistance dilemma is “phage therapy”, the clinical application of bacteriophages to selectively kill bacteria. One promising treatment strategy is the clinical application of bacteriophages, known as phage therapy, Peters et al BMC Genomics (2015) 16:664 to selectively kill infecting bacteria [5,6,7,8,9,10]. All S. maltophilia-specific phages that are to be considered for use in a phage therapy strategy must be fully characterized through complete genome sequencing and analysis to ensure they are safe for use in human clinical trials
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
