PHERI-Phage Host ExploRation Pipeline

Area of Science:

• Microbiology and Bioinformatics
• Phage Therapy and Antibiotic Resistance

Background:

• Antibiotic resistance is a growing global threat across medical, food, and industrial sectors.
• Bacteriophages (phages), viruses that infect bacteria, are a promising alternative to antibiotics.
• Characterizing phage-host specificity is crucial but challenging with modern metagenomic analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a bioinformatic tool for predicting bacterial hosts of bacteriophages using whole-genome sequences.
• To address the limitations in detailed phage characterization from environmental metagenomic data.
• To identify key protein sequences involved in phage-bacterial host selection.

Main Methods:

• Development of a machine learning algorithm-based tool named PHERI.
• Utilizing whole-genome sequences of phages as input for host prediction.
• Analysis of protein sequences to identify host selection determinants.

Main Results:

• PHERI accurately predicts the bacterial host genus for individual phages.
• The tool successfully identifies and highlights protein sequences critical for host specificity.
• Enables efficient characterization of phages from diverse environmental samples.

Conclusions:

• PHERI provides a valuable bioinformatic solution for phage host prediction, crucial for phage therapy.
• The tool aids in overcoming challenges in phage identification from metagenomic data.
• Facilitates the discovery and application of specific bacteriophages to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria.