Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 11, 2025
07:22
Bacteriophage Effectiveness for Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Evaluated via High-Throughput Settings
Published on: August 19, 2021
3.1K
Functional diversity increases the efficacy of phage combinations
Rosanna C T Wright1,2,3, Ville-Petri Friman2, Margaret C M Smith2
1Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Microbiology (Reading, England)
|December 1, 2021
Summary
Phage therapy offers a promising antibiotic alternative. Optimizing phage combinations by focusing on functional diversity, rather than just richness, enhances treatment efficacy and simplifies development.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bacteriology
- Virology
Background:
- Antibiotic resistance necessitates novel therapeutic strategies.
- Phage therapy, using bacteriophages to target bacteria, is a viable alternative.
- The optimal composition of phage combinations for therapeutic efficacy remains under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how phage richness, identity, and functional traits influence the efficacy of phage combinations.
- To determine the key properties for designing effective phage-based therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Experimentally evaluated 827 unique phage combinations.
- Varied phage richness from one to 12 phages.
- Assessed the efficacy of different phage combination strategies.
Main Results:
- Phage combination efficacy generally increased with phage richness.
- Functional diversity among phages significantly enhanced efficacy.
- Maximal efficacy was achieved with functionally diverse combinations at lower phage richness levels.
Conclusions:
- Phage functional diversity is crucial for effective phage combination therapy.
- Designing phage therapies with functional diversity can simplify cocktails.
- This approach may overcome practical and regulatory challenges in phage therapy development.
Related Concept Videos
01:26DNA Bacteriophages
244
Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, utilizing their genetic material to hijack host cellular machinery for replication. DNA bacteriophages employ single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genomes. These phages exhibit diverse replication strategies and host interactions, influencing their ecological roles and applications in biotechnology and medicine.ssDNA BacteriophagesssDNA phages, with their small genomes, utilize unique strategies to...
244
01:30Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages
72.9K
Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are specialized viruses that infect bacteria. A key characteristic of phages is their distinctive “head-tail” morphology. A phage begins the infection process (i.e., lytic cycle) by attaching to the outside of a bacterial cell. Attachment is accomplished via proteins in the phage tail that bind to specific receptor proteins on the outer surface of the bacterium. The tail injects the phage’s DNA genome into the bacterial cytoplasm. In the...
72.9K
01:27Combined Effects of Drugs: Synergism
5.1K
Synergism is a useful mechanism where combining two or more drugs is more effective than each constituent used alone. Such combinations are also called supra-additive interactions. The drugs collectively enhance the final therapeutic effect by acting on different targets. Another advantage is that the low dose of each constituent drug is sufficient to achieve the desired effect. This helps reduce the duration of therapy and lower the adverse effects of these drugs.
Such synergistic combinations...
Such synergistic combinations...
5.1K
00:57Viral Recombination
24.0K
Cells are sometimes infected by more than one virus at once. When two viruses disassemble to expose their genomes for replication in the same cell, similar regions of their genomes can pair together and exchange sequences in a process called recombination. Alternatively, viruses with segmented genomes can swap segments in a process called reassortment.
24.0K
00:43Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages
64.0K
In contrast to the lytic cycle, phages infecting bacteria via the lysogenic cycle do not immediately kill their host cell. Instead, they combine their genome with the host genome, allowing the bacteria to replicate the phage DNA along with the bacterial genome. The incorporated copy of the phage genome is called the prophage. Some prophages can re-activate and enter the lytic cycle. This often occurs in response to a perturbation, such as DNA damage, but can also transpire in the absence of...
64.0K
01:28Diversity of Antigen Receptors
931
Antigen receptors are essential components of the immune system crucial in defending the body against foreign invaders. These receptors are present on the surface of B and T cells, enabling them to recognize antigens and mount an appropriate immune response.
Before encountering any antigen, lymphocytes express these receptors. On B cells, the antigen receptor is a membrane-bound antibody molecule called BCR; on T cells, it is a T cell receptor or TCR. B and T cell receptors are composed of two...
Before encountering any antigen, lymphocytes express these receptors. On B cells, the antigen receptor is a membrane-bound antibody molecule called BCR; on T cells, it is a T cell receptor or TCR. B and T cell receptors are composed of two...
931