Colicin FY inhibits pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica in mice

Abstract

Yersiniosis belongs to the common foodborne diseases around the world, and frequently manifests as diarrhea that can be treated with probiotics. Colicin FY is an antibacterial agent produced by bacteria and it is capable of specific growth inhibition of Yersinia enterocolitica, the causative agent of gastrointestinal yersiniosis. In this study, recombinant E. coli producing colicin FY were constructed, using both known probiotic strains EcH22 and EcColinfant, and the newly isolated murine strains Ec1127 and Ec1145. All E. coli strains producing colicin FY inhibited growth of pathogenic Y. enterocolitica during co-cultivation in vitro. In dysbiotic mice treated with streptomycin, E. coli strains producing colicin FY inhibited progression of Y. enterocolitica infections. This growth inhibition was not observed in mice with normal gut microflora, likely due to insufficient colonization capacity of E. coli strains and/or due to spatial differences in intestinal niches. Isogenic Y. enterocolitica producing colicin FY was constructed and shown to inhibit pathogenic Y. enterocolitica in mice with normal microflora. Evidence of in vivo antimicrobial activity of colicin FY may have utility in the treatment of Y. enterocolitica infections.

The Yersinia Phage X1 Administered Orally Efficiently Protects a Murine Chronic Enteritis Model Against Yersinia enterocolitica Infection

“…Though the phage particles of PY100 were also active for at least 24 h within the gastrointestinal tract (titers between 10 4 and 10 6 PFU/g of organ and feces, respectively), PY100, even multiple doses of treatment, did not remove or prevent Y. enterocolitica from colonizing the intestines of mice (Skurnik and Strauch, 2006). The newly identified antibacterial agents enterocoliticin (2005) and colicin FY (2018), which remained stable in a gastrointestinal environment, also failed to prevent colonization of Y. enterocolitica in the gastrointestinal tract (Damasko et al, 2005;Bosak et al, 2018). Phage X1 also showed higher bactericidal efficiency in vivo than Y. enterocolitica antimicrobial agents discovered in recent years.…”

“…The intestinal contents from the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, and colon of the mice were harvested. The contents were homogenized in 1 mL of phosphate buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) and centrifuged at 4 • C for 1 min (14,000 × g) to obtain the supernatants (Bosak et al, 2018). The stability of the phage was detected with supernatant of PBS aspirate of corresponding parts of intestinal tract, and the phage titer was measured after incubation at 37 • C for 10, 30, 60, and 90 min.…”

“…To determine the phage titer in the Bacteria-Phage group, the supernatants from each time point were centrifuged at 4 • C for 15 min (12,000 × g) and filtered. The phage titer was determined by agar double-layer plate experiment (Bosak et al, 2018;Jeon et al, 2019).…”

Gut Microbiota and Colonization Resistance against Bacterial Enteric Infection

“…Enterobacteriaceae members can produce specific bacteriocins called colicins, and one example, colicin F Y , is encoded by the Yersinia frederiksenii Y27601 plasmid. Recombinant E. coli strains capable of producing colicin F Y were shown to be highly effective against Yersinia enterocolitica in vitro (59). In vivo experiments were performed by first administering the recombinant E. coli strains, after which mice were infected with Y. enterocolitica.…”

Insights Into The Broad Antibacterial Spectrum Of Bacteriocin Isolated From Probiotic Lactobacillus Fermentum LMEM22 Strain

“…The antagonism of probiotic LAB (lactic acid bacteria) strains against human pathogenic bacteria has been reported to be due to their capacity to produce hydrogen peroxide, organic acids, such as lactic acid, and bacteriocins. The bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides of low molecular weights and produced by gram-negative as well as gram-positive bacteria (Usui et al, 2012;Bosak et al, 2018); however, those produced by LAB remain the most valuable compounds in food and medicine (Dobson et al, 2012), because the majority of such producers are 'generally regarded as safe' and designated as probiotics.…”