Techniques to Assess Phage-Biofilm Interaction

Analysis of Four New Enterococcus faecalis Phages and Modeling of a Hyaluronidase Catalytic Domain from Saphexavirus

Background: Phage therapy (PT), as a method to treat bacterial infections, needs identification of bacteriophages targeting specific pathogenic host. Enterococcus faecalis, a Gram-positive coccus resident in the human gastrointestinal tract, may become pathogenic in hospitalized patients showing acquired resistance to vancomycin and thus representing a possible target for PT. Materials and Methods: We isolated four phages that infect E. faecalis and characterized them by host range screening, transmission electron microscopy, and genome sequencing. We also identified and three-dimensional modeled a new hyaluronidase enzyme. Results: The four phages belong to Siphoviridae family: three Efquatrovirus (namely vB_EfaS_TV51, vB_EfaS_TV54, and vB_EfaS_TV217) and one Saphexavirus (vB_EfaS_TV16). All of them are compatible with lytic cycle. vB_EfaS_TV16 moreover presents a gene encoding for a hyaluronidase enzyme. Conclusions: The identified phages show features suggesting their useful application in PT, particularly the Saphexavirus that may be of enhanced relevance in PT because of its potential biofilm-digestion capability.

Improving Phage-Biofilm In Vitro Experimentation

Bacteriophages or phages, the viruses of bacteria, are abundant components of most ecosystems, including those where bacteria predominantly occupy biofilm niches. Understanding the phage impact on bacterial biofilms therefore can be crucial toward understanding both phage and bacterial ecology. Here, we take a critical look at the study of bacteriophage interactions with bacterial biofilms as carried out in vitro, since these studies serve as bases of our ecological and therapeutic understanding of phage impacts on biofilms. We suggest that phage-biofilm in vitro experiments often may be improved in terms of both design and interpretation. Specific issues discussed include (a) not distinguishing control of new biofilm growth from removal of existing biofilm, (b) inadequate descriptions of phage titers, (c) artificially small overlying fluid volumes, (d) limited explorations of treatment dosing and duration, (e) only end-point rather than kinetic analyses, (f) importance of distinguishing phage enzymatic from phage bacteriolytic anti-biofilm activities, (g) limitations of biofilm biomass determinations, (h) free-phage interference with viable-count determinations, and (i) importance of experimental conditions. Toward bettering understanding of the ecology of bacteriophage-biofilm interactions, and of phage-mediated biofilm disruption, we discuss here these various issues as well as provide tips toward improving experiments and their reporting.