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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Biosensor for Detection of Antibiotic Resistant Staphylococcus Bacteria
Published on: May 8, 2013
Discovery of the First Lytic Staphylococcus pseudintermedius/Staphylococcus aureus Polyvalent Bacteriophages
Haroldo Hernandez Santos1,2, Justin Clark1,2, Austen Terwilliger1,2
1Tailored Antibacterials and Innovative Laboratories for Phage (Φ) Research (TAILΦR), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Background:
There are no verified lytic Staphylococcus pseudintermedius phages in the literature and few temperate phage genomes in databases. S. pseudintermedius is an opportunistic zoonotic pathogen of great importance in veterinary and human medicine.
Materials And Methods:
We discovered phages against canine-derived S. pseudintermedius isolates by screening dog feces, hair, and skin swabs. Fourteen new phages were isolated and characterized by genomic analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and host range determination.
Results:
Three phages-DH2, DH5, and DS10, a phage K variant-were predicted lytic by sequencing, a designation supported by mitomycin C induction. All three are S. pseudintermedius and Staphylococcus aureus polyvalent phages, with DH2 and DS10 being strong killers of both species.
Conclusions:
We report discovery of the first verified lytic S. pseudintermedius phages and suggest dog hair as a novel reservoir. DH2, DH5, and DS10 are promising candidates toward developing an anti-Staphylococcal phage cocktail.
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