Phage-induced bacterial morphological changes reveal a phage-derived antimicrobial affecting cell wall integrity.

ABSTRACT: In a looming post-antibiotic era, antibiotic alternatives have become key players in the combat against pathogens. Although recent advances in genomic research allow scientists to fully explore an organism's genome in the search for novel antibacterial molecules, laborious work is still needed in order to dissect each individual gene product for its antibacterial activity. Here, we exploited phage-induced bacterial morphological changes as anchors to explore and discover a potential phage-derived antimicrobial embedded in the phage genome. We found that, upon vibriophage KVP40 infection, Vibrio parahaemolyticus exhibited morphological changes similar to those observed when treated with mecillinam, a cell wall synthesis inhibitor, suggesting the mechanism of pre-killing that KVP40 ex

SUBMITTER: Soonthonsrima T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10648931 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature