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Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Bacteriophage φ4D Lytic Against Enterococcus faecalis Strains

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Abstract

In recent years, Enterococcus faecalis has emerged as an important opportunistic nosocomial pathogen capable of causing dangerous infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel antibacterial agents to control this pathogen. Bacteriophages have very effective bactericidal activity and several advantages over other antimicrobial agents and so far, no serious or irreversible side effects of phage therapy have been described. The objective of this study was to characterize a novel virulent bacteriophage φ4D isolated from sewage. Electron microscopy revealed its resemblance to Myoviridae, with an isometric head (74 ± 4 nm) and a long contractile tail (164 ± 4 nm). The φ4D phage genome was tested using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and estimated to be 145 ± 2 kb. It exhibited short latent period (25 min) and a relatively small burst size (36 PFU/cell). Tests were conducted on the host range, multiplicities of infection (MOI), thermal stability, digestion of DNA by restriction enzymes, and proteomic analyses of this phage. The isolated phage was capable of infecting a wide spectrum of enterococcal strains. The results of these investigations indicate that φ4D is similar to other Myoviridae bacteriophages (for example φEF24C), which have been successfully used in phagotherapy.

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Acknowledgments

The electron microscopy studies were performed in the Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Warsaw, Poland (Electron microscope JEM 1400, installed as part of a project sponsored by EU Structural Funds). This work was supported by Grant N10PC20038 from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Lubelska Str. 2, 24-100, Puławy, Poland

    Sylwia Parasion, Magdalena Kwiatek, Lidia Mizak, Romuald Gryko & Michał Bartoszcze

  2. Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Kozielska Str. 4, 01-163, Warsaw, Poland

    Janusz Kocik

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  1. Sylwia Parasion
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  2. Magdalena Kwiatek
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  3. Lidia Mizak
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Correspondence to Sylwia Parasion.

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Parasion, S., Kwiatek, M., Mizak, L. et al. Isolation and Characterization of a Novel Bacteriophage φ4D Lytic Against Enterococcus faecalis Strains. Curr Microbiol 65, 284–289 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0158-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0158-8

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