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Experimental Evolution of the TolC-Receptor Phage U136B Functionally Identifies a Tail Fiber Protein Involved in
Alita R Burmeister1,2,3, Eddy Tzintzun-Tapia1,2, Carli Roush1,2
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
|May 16, 2023
Summary
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, can be steered to reduce bacterial antibiotic resistance. This study shows bacteriophage U136B readily evolves mutations to improve its infection rate, crucial for developing effective phage therapies.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Antibiotic resistance is a major healthcare challenge.
- Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria and show therapeutic potential.
- Phage therapy can involve 'evolutionary steering' where phages select for bacterial receptor loss, potentially reducing resistance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary potential of bacteriophage U136B, which uses the TolC protein as a receptor.
- To understand how phage U136B evolves under selection pressure from its host, Escherichia coli.
- To identify genetic changes in phage U136B that enhance its infectivity and survival.
Main Methods:
- Experimental evolution of phage U136B over 10 days with Escherichia coli.
- Quantification of phage population dynamics.
- Whole-genome and whole-population sequencing of surviving phage populations.
Main Results:
- Five surviving phage populations evolved higher adsorption rates on ancestral and coevolved E. coli.
- Parallel molecular evolution was observed in phage tail protein genes across surviving populations.
- These adaptations were linked to increased phage infectivity.
Conclusions:
- Phage U136B demonstrates significant evolutionary potential, readily adapting to enhance its infection efficiency.
- Understanding phage evolution is critical for predicting therapeutic efficacy and phage population dynamics during treatment.
- These findings support the development of robust phage therapies against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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