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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Population and Single-Cell Analysis of Antibiotic Persistence in Escherichia coli
Published on: March 24, 2023
Sex pilus specific bacteriophage to drive bacterial population towards antibiotic sensitivity
Joan Colom1, Diego Batista2, Abiyad Baig1
1School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK.
Abstract:
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now a major global problem largely resulting from the overuse of antibiotics in humans and livestock. In some AMR bacteria, resistance is encoded by conjugative plasmids expressing sex-pili that can readily spread resistance through bacterial populations. The aim of this study was to use sex pilus-specific (SPS) phage to reduce the carriage of AMR plasmids. Here, we demonstrate that SPS phage can kill AMR Escherichia coli and select for AMR plasmid loss in vitro. For the first time, we also demonstrate that SPS phage can both prevent the spread of AMR Salmonella Enteritidis infection in chickens and shift the bacterial population towards antibiotic sensitivity.
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