Characterization of a bacteriophage with broad host range against strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from domestic animals

Abstract

Background Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen and one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections. Moreover, the species can cause severe infections in cystic fibrosis patients, in burnt victims and cause disease in domestic animals. The control of these infections is often difficult due to its vast repertoire of mechanisms for antibiotic resistance. Phage therapy investigation with P. aeruginosa bacteriophages has aimed mainly the control of human diseases. In the present work, we have isolated and characterized a new bacteriophage, named Pseudomonas phage BrSP1, and investigated its host range against 36 P. aeruginosa strains isolated from diseased animals and against P. aeruginosa ATCC strain 27853. Results We have isolated a Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage from sewage. We named this virus Pseudomonas phage BrSP1. Our electron microscopy analysis showed that phage BrSP1 had a long tail structure found in members of the order Caudovirales. “In vitro” biological assays demonstrated that phage BrSP1 was capable of maintaining the P. aeruginosa population at low levels for up to 12 h post-infection. However, bacterial growth resumed afterward and reached levels similar to non-treated samples at 24 h post-infection. Host range analysis showed that 51.4% of the bacterial strains investigated were susceptible to phage BrSP1 and efficiency of plating (EOP) investigation indicated that EOP values in the strains tested varied from 0.02 to 1.72. Analysis of the phage genome revealed that it was a double-stranded DNA virus with 66,189 bp, highly similar to the genomes of members of the genus Pbunavirus , a group of viruses also known as PB1-like viruses. Conclusion The results of our “in vitro” bioassays and of our host range analysis suggested that Pseudomonas phage BrSP1 could be included in a phage cocktail to treat veterinary infections. Our EOP investigation confirmed that EOP values differ considerably among different bacterial strains. Comparisons of complete genome sequences indicated that phage BrSP1 is a novel species of the genus Pbunavirus . The complete genome of phage BrSP1 provides additional data that may help the broader understanding of pbunaviruses genome evolution. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-019-1481-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Identification and Characterization of New Bacteriophages to Control Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm on Endotracheal Tubes

“…Their genomes are typically organized in clusters. Both guanine-cytosine content and genome length were similar to other Pbunaviruses as previously reported ( de Melo et al, 2019 ; Yuan et al, 2019 ). Regarding vB_PaeM_USP_18 and vB_PaeM_USP_25, only ca.…”

“…Infection of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa indicates that bacteriophages or bacteriophage-based products could potentially be applied for therapeutic purposes. The lytic rates presented here are higher than in other Pbunavirus ( de Melo et al, 2019 ), which can be related to the origin and the number of tested strains. In fact, host broad range and species specificity are desirable for bacteriophage application in phage therapy.…”

Susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa veterinary isolates to Pbunavirus PB1‐like phages

“…Pbunavirus BrSP1, which is closely related to the Pseudomonas phage NH_4, has a broad host range against domestic animal-related P. aeruginosa strains. 17 It has been suggested that BrSP1 could be useful in a phage cocktail. Our data also indicate that NH_4-like ØS50 would be useful for phage therapy in the field of veterinary medicines.…”

Molecular Characteristics and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from patients attending Healthcare Facilities in Mthatha, South Africa

“…Background 3 P. aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen causing infections especially in immunocompromised patients. It is the leading cause of nosocomial infections such as urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, pneumonia, bacteremia and septicaemia [1][2][3] It is one of the ESKAPE pathogens that is most medically and epidemiologically significant and has been implicated as a principal cause of chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and severe infections in burn victims [4][5][6][7]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized P. aeruginosa as a critical priority pathogen which needs urgent novel antibiotics intervention and has been given a serious threat level due to multidrug resistance displayed to many antibiotics [8,9].…”