Broad-range capsule-dependent lytic Sugarlandvirus against Klebsiella sp

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a serious global health threat requiring the development of novel treatments. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an encapsulated bacterium considered a major concern due to its high resistance, prevalence, and mortality rates. Phage therapy has been pr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Concha-Eloko, Robby, Barberán-Martínez, Pilar, Sanjuán, Rafael, Domingo-Calap, Pilar
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/350953
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/350953
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Klebsiella
Bacteriophages
Phage therapy
Infection range
Capsule
Phage cocktail
Descripción
Sumario:The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a serious global health threat requiring the development of novel treatments. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an encapsulated bacterium considered a major concern due to its high resistance, prevalence, and mortality rates. Phage therapy has been proposed as a very promising alternative to combat infections by Klebsiella sp. infections. However, most of the Klebsiella phages described so far present a high specificity, infecting one or a few capsular types due to the presence of depolymerases in their genomes, which limits their therapeutic potential. Here, we present three new Klebsiella phages isolated from the environment, vB_Kpn_K7PH164C4, vB_Kpn_K30λ2.2, and vB_Kpl_K32PH164C1, belonging to the family Demerecviridae and the genus Sugarlandvirus. The most important feature of these new Klebsiella phages is their broad host range, especially vB_Kpn_K7PH164C4 and vB_Kpn_K30λ2.2, which infects strains of more than 20 different capsular types, representing the broadest infection range observed for Klebsiella phages. Genomic analysis revealed the presence of three receptor-binding proteins lacking depolymerase domains. Nevertheless, capsule expression is suggested to be a determining factor in phage infectivity, despite the absence of depolymerase activity against capsular components. Our findings hold potential for the development of promising phage-based therapeutics directed against K. pneumoniae.