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Wang Y, Li X, Dance DAB, Xia H, Chen C, Luo N, Li A, Li Y, Zhu Q, Sun Q, Wu X, Zeng Y, Chen L, Tian S, Xia Q. A novel lytic phage potentially effective for phage therapy against Burkholderia pseudomallei in the tropics. Infect Dis Poverty 2022; 11:87. [PMID: 35927751 PMCID: PMC9351088 DOI: 10.1186/s40249-022-01012-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Burkholderia pseudomallei is a tropical pathogen that causes melioidosis. Its intrinsic drug-resistance is a leading cause of treatment failure, and the few available antibiotics require prolonged use to be effective. This study aimed to assess the clinical potential of B. pseudomallei phages isolated from Hainan, China.
Methods Burkholderia pseudomallei strain (HNBP001) was used as the isolation host, and phages were recovered from domestic environmental sources, which were submitted to the host range determination, lytic property assays, and stability tests. The best candidate was examined via the transmission electron microscope for classification. With its genome sequenced and analyzed, its protective efficacy against B. pseudomallei infection in A549 cells and Caenorhabditis elegans was evaluated, in which cell viability and survival rates were compared using the one-way ANOVA method and the log-rank test. Results A phage able to lyse 24/25 clinical isolates was recovered. It was classified in the Podoviridae family and was found to be amenable to propagation. Under the optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 0.1, an eclipse period of around 20 min and a high titer (1012 PFU/ml) produced within 1 h were demonstrated. This phage was found stabile at a wide range of temperatures (24, 37, 40, 50, and 60 °C) and pH values (3–12). After being designated as vB_BpP_HN01, it was fully sequenced, and the 71,398 bp linear genome, containing 93 open reading frames and a tRNA-Asn, displayed a low sequence similarity with known viruses. Additionally, protective effects of applications of vB_BpP_HN01 (MOI = 0.1 and MOI = 1) alone or in combination with antibiotics were found to improve viability of infected cells (70.6 ± 6.8%, 85.8 ± 5.7%, 91.9 ± 1.8%, and 96.8 ± 1.8%, respectively). A significantly reduced mortality (10%) and a decreased pathogen load were demonstrated in infected C. elegans following the addition of this phage. Conclusions As the first B. pseudomallei phage was isolated in Hainan, China, phage vB_BpP_HN01 was characterized by promising lytic property, stability, and efficiency of bacterial elimination during the in vitro/vivo experiments. Therefore, we can conclude that it is a potential alternative agent for combating melioidosis. Graphical Abstract ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40249-022-01012-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanshuang Wang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China.,Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Xuemiao Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - David A B Dance
- Lao-Oxford-Mahosot Hospital-Wellcome Trust Research Unit, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic.,Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Han Xia
- Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Chen Chen
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Nini Luo
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Anyang Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Yanmei Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Qiao Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Qinghui Sun
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Xingyong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Yingfei Zeng
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China
| | - Lin Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Shen Tian
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China.
| | - Qianfeng Xia
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, NHC Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control, School of Tropical Medicine and The Second Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan, China.
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Tapia D, Sanchez-Villamil JI, Torres AG. Emerging role of biologics for the treatment of melioidosis and glanders. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2019; 19:1319-1332. [PMID: 31590578 PMCID: PMC6981286 DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2019.1677602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Two important pathogenic species within the genus Burkholderia, namely Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bpm) and Burkholderia mallei (Bm), are the causative agents of the life-threatening diseases melioidosis and glanders, respectively. Due to their high mortality rate and potential for aerosolization, they have gained interest as potential biothreat agents and are classified as Tier 1 Select Agents.Areas covered: The manuscript provides an overview of the literature covering the efforts taken in the last 10 years to develop new therapeutics measures against both Bpm and Bm, with attention on novel therapeutic agents.Expert Opinion: As a result of the complicated antibiotic regimens necessary to treat these infections, development of novel therapeutics is needed to treat both diseases. In recent years, the understanding of the pathogenesis of Burkholderia has improved significantly and so have the efforts to develop novel therapeutic agents with high efficacy, either alone, or in combination with conventional antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Tapia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Javier I. Sanchez-Villamil
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Alfredo G. Torres
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, United States of America
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Mohanraj U, Wan X, Spruit CM, Skurnik M, Pajunen MI. A Toxicity Screening Approach to Identify Bacteriophage-Encoded Anti-Microbial Proteins. Viruses 2019; 11:E1057. [PMID: 31739448 PMCID: PMC6893735 DOI: 10.3390/v11111057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance among many pathogenic bacteria has created a profound need to discover new alternatives to antibiotics. Bacteriophages, the viruses of microbes, express special proteins to overtake the metabolism of the bacterial host they infect, the best known of which are involved in bacterial lysis. However, the functions of majority of bacteriophage encoded gene products are not known, i.e., they represent the hypothetical proteins of unknown function (HPUFs). In the current study we present a phage genomics-based screening approach to identify phage HPUFs with antibacterial activity with a long-term goal to use them as leads to find unknown targets to develop novel antibacterial compounds. The screening assay is based on the inhibition of bacterial growth when a toxic gene is expression-cloned into a plasmid vector. It utilizes an optimized plating assay producing a significant difference in the number of transformants after ligation of the toxic and non-toxic genes into a cloning vector. The screening assay was first tested and optimized using several known toxic and non-toxic genes. Then, it was applied to screen 94 HPUFs of bacteriophage φR1-RT, and identified four HPUFs that were toxic to Escherichia coli. This optimized assay is in principle useful in the search for bactericidal proteins of any phage, and also opens new possibilities to understanding the strategies bacteriophages use to overtake bacterial hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ushanandini Mohanraj
- Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Medicum, Human Microbiome Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; (U.M.); (X.W.); (C.M.S.); (M.S.)
- Department of Virology, Medicum, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Xing Wan
- Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Medicum, Human Microbiome Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; (U.M.); (X.W.); (C.M.S.); (M.S.)
- Division Animal and Human Health Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 21 - box 2462, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Cindy M. Spruit
- Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Medicum, Human Microbiome Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; (U.M.); (X.W.); (C.M.S.); (M.S.)
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mikael Skurnik
- Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Medicum, Human Microbiome Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; (U.M.); (X.W.); (C.M.S.); (M.S.)
- Division of Clinical Microbiology, Helsinki University Hospital, HUSLAB, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Maria I. Pajunen
- Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, Medicum, Human Microbiome Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland; (U.M.); (X.W.); (C.M.S.); (M.S.)
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Zhang Y, Lin H, Wang J, Li M. Characteristics of Two Lysis-Related Proteins from a Shewanella putrefaciens Phage with High Lytic Activity and Wide Spectrum. J Food Prot 2018; 81:332-340. [PMID: 29369685 DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-17-144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Although Shewanella putrefaciens is the specific spoilage organism in most seafood, only seven Shewanella phages have been sequenced and their endolysins have not been reported until now. In this study, we cloned and expressed two lysis-related proteins (Spp64 and Spp62) encoded by phage Spp001, the first sequenced S. putrefaciens phage. Both recombinant proteins showed strong lytic capability toward chilled S. putrefaciens Sp225 and presented a wider activity spectrum compared with bacteriophage Spp001. The enzymatic activity of crude Spp64, Spp62ΔTD, and Spp62ΔTD-GST can cause decreases of 0.691, 0.674, and 0.685, respectively, as tested through the turbidity reduction assay. Furthermore, purified enzyme Spp64 at concentrations of 537.5 and 4.20 μg/mL was enough to decrease the optical density of chilled S. putrefaciens by 0.881 and 0.492, respectively, within 15 min. The recombinant Spp64 has a peptidase catalytic domain and exhibits high temperature resistance. Moreover, Spp64 displayed superior enzymatic activity in a range of pH values that matches environmental conditions (pH between 5.0 and 10.0), which demonstrates that its application in seafood is feasible. The present work is to our knowledge the first report on lysis-related enzymes encoded in the Shewanella phage. Both proteins presented extraordinary potential to control S. putrefaciens; we hope that these proteins can be developed as novel antibacterial agents in further research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Zhang
- Food Safety Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Lin
- Food Safety Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingxue Wang
- Food Safety Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengzhe Li
- Food Safety Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, People's Republic of China
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Khakhum N, Yordpratum U, Boonmee A, Tattawasart U, Rodrigues JLM, Sermswan RW. Cloning, expression, and characterization of a peptidoglycan hydrolase from the Burkholderia pseudomallei phage ST79. AMB Express 2016; 6:77. [PMID: 27637947 PMCID: PMC5025407 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-016-0251-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The lytic phage ST79 of Burkholderia pseudomallei can lyse a broad range of its host including antibiotic resistant isolates from within using a set of proteins, holin, lysB, lysC and endolysin, a peptidoglycan (PG) hydrolase enzyme. The phage ST79 endolysin gene identified as peptidase M15A was cloned, expressed and purified to evaluate its potential to lyse pathogenic bacteria. The molecular size of the purified enzyme is approximately 18 kDa and the in silico study cited here indicated the presence of a zinc-binding domain predicted to be a member of the subfamily A of a metallopeptidase. Its activity, however, was reduced by the presence of Zn2+. When Escherichia coli PG was used as a substrate and subjected to digestion for 5 min with 3 μg/ml of enzyme, the peptidase M15A showed 2 times higher in lysis efficiency when compared to the commercial lysozyme. The enzyme works in a broad alkaligenic pH range of 7.5–9.0 and temperatures from 25 to 42 °C. The enzyme was able to lyse 18 Gram-negative bacteria in which the outer membrane was permeabilized by chloroform treatment. Interestingly, it also lysed Enterococcus sp., but not other Gram-positive bacteria. In general, endolysin cannot lyse Gram-negative bacteria from outside, however, the cationic amphipathic C-terminal in some endolysins showed permeability to Gram-negative outer membranes. Genetically engineered ST79 peptidase M15A that showed a broad spectrum against Gram-negative bacterial PG or, in combination with an antibiotic the same way as combined drug methodology, could facilitate an effective treatment of severe or antibiotic resistant cases.
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