Programming Bacteriophages by Swapping Their Specificity Determinants

Moran G Goren; Ido Yosef; Udi Qimron

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2015.10.006

Programming Bacteriophages by Swapping Their Specificity Determinants

Trends Microbiol. 2015 Dec;23(12):744-746. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.10.006. Epub 2015 Oct 29.

Authors

Moran G Goren¹, Ido Yosef¹, Udi Qimron²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
² Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 26526502
DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.10.006

Abstract

Bacteriophages, bacteria's natural enemies, may serve as potent antibacterial agents. Their specificity for certain bacterial sub-species limits their effectiveness, but allows selective targeting of bacteria. Lu and colleagues present a platform for such targeting through alteration of bacteriophages' host specificity by swapping specificity domains in their host-recognition ligand.

Keywords: bacteriophage adsorption; host-range expansion; host-recognition ligand; shaping bacterial microbiome.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Bacteria / virology*
Bacterial Infections / microbiology*
Bacterial Infections / therapy*
Bacteriophages / growth & development*
Biological Therapy / methods*
Complementary Therapies / methods*
Humans