For the first time, scientists “manually” synthesized bacteriophages with a reduced genome that lyse various strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This achievement could be the first step toward creating new antibacterial agents. <\/p>\n
Bacteriophages are currently considered promising antimicrobial agents, particularly relevant in the context of the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria. Both natural and genetically modified bacteriophages are used to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. Recently, scientists have succeeded in synthesizing a bacteriophage from scratch. <\/p>\n
The genomes of bacteriophages are small, but today the functions of far from all phage genes are known. It is possible that sequences with unknown functions (which constitute up to 80% of the genome!) may cause problems when using phages in humans. Furthermore, they complicate the process of genetic modification of phages. Portuguese scientists decided to create a lytic bacteriophage with a minimal genome containing only the genes necessary to infect a specific target bacterium and complete the replication cycle. Previously, a similar experiment was conducted on prokaryotes\u2014scientists created a bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides with a minimal genome. <\/p>\n
The new synthetic bacteriophage targets Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium known for widespread antibiotic-resistant strains. Treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is a priority for the WHO. The scientists used as a basis a bacteriophage specific to P. aeruginosa isolated from wastewater (designated PE3). Of 28 samples of P. aeruginosa obtained from patients, bacteriophages affected 7. The genome of the PE3 phage was sequenced: it contained an estimated 55 protein-coding sequences. <\/p>\n
Scientists excised several gene blocks from the genome of bacteriophage PE3; the resulting constructs were propagated in yeast cells and then transferred into the host bacterium P. aeruginosa to test whether the phage’s genetic information could initiate the viral particle assembly program. The experiment was successful: visible phage plaques formed in the bacterial cultures\u2014sites where the virus destroyed the bacteria. <\/p>\n
Further experiments revealed certain characteristics of synthetic phages: Not all synthetic bacteriophages could infect the same Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains as their natural predecessor; the antibacterial efficacy of bacteriophages in vitro remained at a high level. In vivo, in experiments on insects (greater wax moth G. mellonella), synthetic bacteriophages, like their natural predecessor, increased the survival rate of animals infected with P. aeruginosa. <\/p>\n
The authors of the study believe that their approach to generating synthetic phages will enable rapid creation of lytic bacteriophages against specific pathogenic bacteria in the future.<\/p>\n
Translation of source:<\/p>\n
* Pires DP, Monteiro R., Mil-Homens D. et al. Design of synthetic phages of P. aeruginosa with reduced genomes. Sci Rep; 2021, 11: 2164. <\/p>\n
https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41598-021-81580-2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the first time, scientists “manually” synthesized bacteriophages with a reduced genome that lyse various strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This achievement could be the first step toward creating new antibacterial agents. Bacteriophages are currently considered promising antimicrobial agents, particularly relevant in the context of the spread of antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria. Both natural and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.phage.help\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/bacteriophage-1767321_960_720.png?fit=480%2C270&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pazElU-2df","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.phage.help\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}