Characterization and Genomic Analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Phage UAE_MI-01 Isolated from Birds

Abstract

Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 is responsible for the majority of foodborne outbreaks worldwide and may lead to death. Bacteriophages are natural killers of bacteria. All previously reported E. coli O157:H7 phages were isolated from ruminants or swine. Here, we report for the first time a phage isolated from bird feces in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), designated as UAE_MI-01, indicating birds as a good source of phages. Thus, phages could be a tool for predicting the presence of the host bacteria in an animal or the environment. UAE_MI-01 was found to be a lytic phage that was stable at wide ranges of pH, temperature, and chemical disinfectants, and with a burst size of almost 100 plaque-forming units per host cell after a latent period of 20 min and an adsorption rate constant (K) of 1.25 × 10−7 mL min−1. The phage genome was found to be 44,281 bp long with an average GC content of 54.7%. The presence of the phage indicates the presence of the host cell E. coli O157:H7 in wild birds. Therefore, other birds, mainly poultry, could be also investigated for the presence of this pathogenic bacterium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophage isolated from a bird.

Isolation, Characterization, and Comparative Genomic Analysis of Bacteriophage Ec_MI-02 from Pigeon Feces Infecting Escherichia coli O157:H7

“…Only three of the closest ten phages have been characterized-Shigella phage pSs-1, isolated from environmental water in South Korea [66]; Shigella phage Sfk20, isolated from water bodies of a diarrheal outbreak location in India [67]; and Escherichia phage HY01 [68]. Previously, in the UAE, we had reported UAE_MI-01, another E. coli phage from the same source with a much smaller genome (44,281 bp) [61,62]. Nonetheless, we included it in the comparison to demonstrate the extent of diversity in phages within the single source (same nest) [62].…”

“…Previously, in the UAE, we had reported UAE_MI-01, another E. coli phage from the same source with a much smaller genome (44,281 bp) [61,62]. Nonetheless, we included it in the comparison to demonstrate the extent of diversity in phages within the single source (same nest) [62].…”

“…Ec_MI-02 was similar in size to pSs-1 (218 × 98 nm) [66], but larger than Sfk20 [67] (190 × 62 nm), HY01 [68] (200 nm long), and UAE_MI-01 [62] (180 × 50 nm). Ec_MI-02 showed higher temperature stability, since it was stable at 65 • C, compared with pSs-1 [66], which was stable only up to 50 • C, and Sfk20 [67] and HY01 [68], which were found to be deactivated at a temperature of around 50 • C. However, Ec_MI-02 was quite similar to UAE_MI-01 [62], both of which could tolerate temperatures up to 65 • C.…”

“…Ec_MI-02 was the second E. coli O157:H7 phage, also isolated from wild pigeons. Previously, we reported UAE_MI-01 [61,62], another E. coli O157:H7 phage, from wild pigeons [61,62]. Both phages were characterized to emphasize the diversity of phages within a single source.…”

An overview of the use of bacteriophages in the poultry industry: Successes, challenges, and possibilities for overcoming breakdowns

“…A wild pigeon’s droppings included United Arab Emirates MI-01, a monovalent bacteriophage with lytic activity against E. coli O157: H7. Given that wild birds have E. coli O157:H7 phages, it is likely that they are carrying pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 ( Sultan-Alolama et al, 2022 ). Jiang et al (2022) isolated phages flora and kanamycin sulphate (KM18) targeting E. coli .…”