Isolation and Characterization of Lytic Bacteriophages Targeting Diverse Enterobacter spp. Clinical Isolates

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Virology
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Enterobacter species are significant causes of hospital-acquired infections.
• The rise of antibiotic resistance in Enterobacter necessitates alternative therapeutic strategies.
• Bacteriophages offer a potential alternative to antibiotics for treating resistant bacterial infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and characterize lytic bacteriophages targeting clinical isolates of Enterobacter species.
• To assess the efficacy of isolated bacteriophages against antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter strains, including those with ceftazidime-avibactam resistance.
• To expand the known diversity of bacteriophages effective against Enterobacter.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of lytic bacteriophages from hospital and municipal wastewater.
• Genomic analysis of both host bacterial isolates and isolated bacteriophages.
• Determination of phage activity against a panel of genetically diverse Enterobacter clinical isolates.
• Testing phage susceptibility of paired isolates exhibiting ceftazidime-avibactam resistance.

Main Results:

• Twelve bacteriophages, primarily from the Myoviridae and Autographiviridae families, were isolated.
• Most isolated phages demonstrated broad host range, lysing multiple Enterobacter species and isolates.
• Ceftazidime-avibactam-resistant Enterobacter isolates remained susceptible to phage therapy.
• One resistant isolate displayed enhanced susceptibility to phage treatment compared to its susceptible parent strain.

Conclusions:

• The isolated bacteriophages represent a valuable addition to the repertoire of Enterobacter-targeting phages.
• These phages hold potential for the development of phage therapy against antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter infections.
• Phage therapy could be a viable strategy to combat nosocomial infections caused by multidrug-resistant Enterobacter species.