Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evidence for the Presence of Legionella Bacteriophages in Environmental Water Samples

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Microbial Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The existence and preliminary characterization of bacteriophages active against the Gram-negative human pathogen Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of a very severe form of pneumonia, are reported. Four phages belonging to the family of the Myoviridae were isolated from various fresh water environments, and preliminary characterization showed that these crude preparations infect exclusively bacteria belonging to the genus Legionella. Standard phage amplification, purification, and characterization procedures were, however, not efficiently applicable making more research into these novel phages and their mechanism of infection necessary. The existence of Legionella bacteriophages is very promising for future applications such as the development of novel molecular tools, the design of new detection and typing methods, and the bioremediation of this environmental pathogen.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bouchard JD, Dion E, Bissonnette F, Moineau S (2002) Characterization of the two-component abortive phage infection mechanism AbiT from Lactococcus lactis. J Bacteriol 184:6325–6332

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Chopin MC, Chopin A, Bidnenko E (2005) Phage abortive infection in lactococci: variations on a theme. Curr Opin Microbiol 8:473–479

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Clark JR, March JB (2006) Bacteriophages and biotechnology: vaccines, gene therapy and antibacterials. Trends Biotechnol 24:212–218

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Curtin JJ, Donlan RM (2006) Using bacteriophages to reduce formation of catheter-associated biofilms by Staphylococcus epidermidis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 50:1268–1275

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Edelstein PH (1981) Improved semiselective medium for isolation of Legionella pneumophila from contaminated clinical and environmental specimens. J Clin Microbiol 14:298–303

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Houf K, On SLW, Coenye T, Mast J, Van Hoof J, Vandamme P (2005) Arcobacter cibarius sp. nov., isolated from broiler carcasses. IJSEM 55:713–717

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hudson JA, Billington C, Carey-Smith G, Greening G (2005) Bacteriophages as biocontrol agents in food. J Food Prot 68:426–437

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Loessner MJ, Rudolf M, Scherer S (1997) Evaluation of luciferase reporter bacteriophage A511::luxAB for detection of Listeria monocytogenes in contaminated foods. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:2961–2965

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Moebus K (1983) Lytic and inhibition responses to bacteriophages among marine bacteria, with special reference to the origin of phage–host systems. Helgoländer Meeresunters 36:375–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Petty NK, Evans TJ, Fineran PC, Salmond GP (2006) Biotechnological exploitation of bacteriophage research. Trends Biotechnol 25:7–15

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Schnabel EL, Jones AL (2001) Isolation and characterization of five Erwinia amylovora bacteriophages and assessment of phage resistance in strains of Erwinia amylovora. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:59–64

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Simboli N, Takiff H, McNerney R, Lopez B, Martin A, Palomino JC, Barrera L, Ritacco V (2005) In-house phage amplification assay is a sound alternative for detecting rifampin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in low-resource settings. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 49:425–427

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Sutherland IW, Hughes KA, Skillman LC, Tait K (2004) The interaction of phage and biofilms. FEMS Microbiol Lett 232:1–6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Withey S, Cartmell E, Avery LM, Stephenson T (2005) Bacteriophages: potential for application in wastewater treatment processes. Sci Total Environ 339:1–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Yanisch-Perron C, Vierra J, Messing J (1985) Improved M13 phage cloning vectors and host strains: nucleotide sequences of the M13mp18 and pUC19 vectors. Gene 33:103–109

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by IWT (GBOU 20153). We would like to thank Prof. Dr. H.W. Ackermann for the first electron microscopic analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Elke Lammertyn, Johan Vande Voorde, Eef Meyen, Liesbeth Maes & Jozef Anné

  2. Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, 1180, Brussels, Belgium

    Jan Mast

Authors
  1. Elke Lammertyn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Johan Vande Voorde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eef Meyen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Liesbeth Maes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jan Mast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jozef Anné
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elke Lammertyn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lammertyn, E., Vande Voorde, J., Meyen, E. et al. Evidence for the Presence of Legionella Bacteriophages in Environmental Water Samples. Microb Ecol 56, 191–197 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9325-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-007-9325-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation