Isolation and characterization of T7-like lytic bacteriophages infecting multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from Egypt

Curr Microbiol. 2015 Jun;70(6):786-91. doi: 10.1007/s00284-015-0788-8. Epub 2015 Feb 18.

Abstract

In this study, two lytic phages designated as ϕPSZ1 and ϕPSZ2 infecting multidrug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from sewage samples collected in Zagazig, Egypt. Morphological analysis by transmission electron microscopy revealed that both phages belong to the podoviridae family and resembles typical T7-like phages. ϕPSZ1 has a head of about 60 ± 5 nm in diameter with a short tail of 19 ± 2 nm in length, while ϕPSZ2 has a head of about 57 ± 5 nm in diameter with a short tail of 14 ± 2 nm in length. Both phages were shown to be able to infect 13 different P. aeruginosa strains and has no effect on other tested bacteria. In spite of morphological similarity, these phages showed diverged genomic sequences revealed by restriction enzyme digestion analysis. One-step growth curves of bacteriophages revealed eclipse and latent periods of 12 min for ϕPSZ1 and 15 min for ϕPSZ2, respectively, with burst sizes of about 100 per infected cell. Phage treatment prevented the growth of P. aeruginosa for up to 18 h with multiplicity of infection ratios of 1. These results suggest that both phages have a high potential for phage application to control P. aeruginosa.

MeSH terms

  • Bacteriolysis
  • DNA, Viral / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial*
  • Egypt
  • Genetic Variation
  • Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
  • Podoviridae / growth & development
  • Podoviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Podoviridae / ultrastructure
  • Pseudomonas Phages / growth & development
  • Pseudomonas Phages / isolation & purification*
  • Pseudomonas Phages / ultrastructure
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / growth & development
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / virology*
  • Restriction Mapping
  • Sewage / virology
  • Virion / ultrastructure

Substances

  • DNA, Viral
  • Sewage