Mining a vibriophage depolymerase for enhanced pathogen control in aquaculture.

ABSTRACT: Despite the promise of phages as antibiotic alternatives, their efficacy is often undermined by the rapid emergence of bacterial resistance. Phage-derived enzymes, particularly depolymerases, offer a compelling strategy to overcome this limitation and enhance antibacterial therapy. Focusing on Vibrio pathogens, the major threats to global aquaculture, our bioinformatic analysis revealed that 79.4% of cultured and 46.2% of uncultured Vibrio phages encode putative depolymerases, underscoring a vast but underexploited antibacterial resource. We further isolated and characterized VnaP, a depolymerase-encoding phage (novel genus, Caudovircetes) that forms distinctive halo plaques indicative of depolymerase activity. Genome analysis identified ORF193, encoding a novel polysa

SUBMITTER: Yue Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12915355 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature