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Phage Paride can kill dormant, antibiotic-tolerant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by direct lytic replication.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophages are ubiquitous viral predators that have primarily been studied using fast-growing laboratory cultures of their bacterial hosts. However, microbial life in nature is mostly in a slow- or non-growing, dormant state. Here, we show that diverse phages can infect deep-dormant bacteria and suspend their replication until the host resuscitates ("hibernation"). However, a newly isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage, named Paride, can directly replicate and induce the lysis of deep-dormant hosts. While non-growing bacteria are notoriously tolerant to antibiotic drugs, the combination with Paride enables the carbapenem meropenem to eradicate deep-dormant cultures in vitro and to reduce a resilient bacterial infection of a tissue cage implant in mice. Our work might inspire new treatments for persistent bacterial infections and, more broadly, highlights two viral strategies to infect dormant bacteria (hibernation and direct replication) that will guide future studies on phage-host interactions.

SUBMITTER: Maffei E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10761892 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Phage Paride can kill dormant, antibiotic-tolerant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by direct lytic replication.

Maffei Enea E Woischnig Anne-Kathrin AK Burkolter Marco R MR Heyer Yannik Y Humolli Dorentina D Thürkauf Nicole N Bock Thomas T Schmidt Alexander A Manfredi Pablo P Egli Adrian A Khanna Nina N Jenal Urs U Harms Alexander A

Nature communications 20240102 1

Bacteriophages are ubiquitous viral predators that have primarily been studied using fast-growing laboratory cultures of their bacterial hosts. However, microbial life in nature is mostly in a slow- or non-growing, dormant state. Here, we show that diverse phages can infect deep-dormant bacteria and suspend their replication until the host resuscitates ("hibernation"). However, a newly isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage, named Paride, can directly replicate and induce the lysis of deep-dorman ...[more]

PMID: 38168031

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Project description:Bacteria growing in biofilms are physiologically heterogeneous, due in part to their adaptation to local environmental conditions. Here, we characterized the local transcriptional responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa growing in biofilms by using microarray analysis of isolated biofilm subpopulations. The results demonstrated that cells at the top of the biofilms had high mRNA abundances for genes involved in general metabolic functions, while mRNAs for these housekeeping genes were low in cells at the bottom of the biofilms. Selective GFP labeling showed that cells at the top of the biofilm were actively dividing. However, the dividing cells had high mRNAs levels for genes regulated by the hypoxia induced regulator, Anr. Slow-growing cells deep in the biofilms had little expression of Anr-regulated genes and may have experienced long-termanoxia. Transcripts for ribosomal proteins were primarily associated with the metabolically active cell fraction, while ribosomal RNAs were abundant throughout the biofilms, indicating that ribosomes are stably maintained even in slowly growing cells. Consistent with these results was the identification of mRNAs for ribosome hibernation factors (rmf and PA4463) at the bottom of the biofilms. A P. aeruginosa M-bM-^HM-^Frmf strain had increased uptake of the membrane integrity stain, propidium iodide. Using selective GFP labeling and cell sorting, we showed that the dividing cells were more susceptible to tobramycin and ciprofloxacin than the dormant subpopulation. The results demonstrate that in thick P. aeruginosa biofilms, cells are physiologically distinct spatially, with cells deep in the biofilm in a viable but antibiotic-tolerant slow-growth state. 52-hour Pseudomonas aeruginosa TSA colony biofilms were cryoembedded, thin sectioned, and laser dissected (LCM) to obtain samples from the top and bottom 50 M-BM-5m of the biofilms. 9 sections per biofilm were pooled. RNA was extracted with the RNeasy Micro kit, Turbo DNase treated, poly(A) tailed, and amplified using the Quantitect WTA kit. After clean up, the resulting product was fragmented and end labeled before hybridization.

Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major cause of nosocomial infections, has been categorized by World Health Organization as a critical pathogen urgently in need of effective therapies. Bacteriophages or phages, which are viruses that specifically kill bacteria, have been considered as alternative agents for the treatment of bacterial infections. Here, we discovered a lytic phage targeting P. aeruginosa, designated as JJ01, which was classified as a member of the Myoviridae family due to the presence of an icosahedral capsid and a contractile tail under TEM. Phage JJ01 requires at least 10 min for 90% of its particles to be adsorbed to the host cells and has a latent period of 30 min inside the host cell for its replication. JJ01 has a relatively large burst size, which releases approximately 109 particles/cell at the end of its lytic life cycle. The phage can withstand a wide range of pH values (3-10) and temperatures (4-60°C). Genome analysis showed that JJ01 possesses a complete genome of 66,346 base pairs with 55.7% of GC content, phylogenetically belonging to the genus Pbunavirus. Genome annotation further revealed that the genome encodes 92 open reading frames (ORFs) with 38 functionally predictable genes, and it contains neither tRNA nor toxin genes, such as drug-resistant or lysogenic-associated genes. Phage JJ01 is highly effective in suppressing bacterial cell growth for 12 h and eradicating biofilms established by the bacteria. Even though JJ01-resistant bacteria have emerged, the ability of phage resistance comes with the expense of the bacterial fitness cost. Some resistant strains were found to produce less biofilm and grow slower than the wild-type strain. Among the resistant isolates, the resistant strain W10 which notably loses its physiological fitness becomes eight times more susceptible to colistin and has its cell membrane compromised, compared to the wild type. Altogether, our data revealed the potential of phage JJ01 as a candidate for phage therapy against P. aeruginosa and further supports that even though the use of phages would subsequently lead to the emergence of phage-resistant bacteria, an evolutionary trade-off would make them more sensitive to antibiotics.

Dataset Information

Phage Paride can kill dormant, antibiotic-tolerant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by direct lytic replication.

Publications

Phage Paride can kill dormant, antibiotic-tolerant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by direct lytic replication.

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