Lytic activity by temperate phages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in long-term cystic fibrosis chronic lung infections



James, Chloe E, Davies, Emily V, Fothergill, Jo ORCID: 0000-0002-7012-1508, Walshaw, Martin, Beale, Colin M, Brockhurst, Michael A and Winstanley, Craig ORCID: 0000-0002-2662-8053
(2015) Lytic activity by temperate phages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in long-term cystic fibrosis chronic lung infections. The ISME Journal, 9 (6). pp. 1391-1398.

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Abstract

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common bacterial pathogen infecting the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. The transmissible Liverpool epidemic strain (LES) harbours multiple inducible prophages (LESu2; LESu3; LESu4; LESu5; and LESu6), some of which are known to confer a competitive advantage in an in vivo rat model of chronic lung infection. We used quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) to measure the density and dynamics of all five LES phages in the sputa of 10 LES-infected CF patients over a period of 2 years. In all patients, the densities of free-LES phages were positively correlated with the densities of P. aeruginosa, and total free-phage densities consistently exceeded bacterial host densities 10–100-fold. Further, we observed a negative correlation between the phageto-bacterium ratio and bacterial density, suggesting a role for lysis by temperate phages in regulation of the bacterial population densities. In 9/10 patients, LESu2 and LESu4 were the most abundant free phages, which reflects the differential in vitro induction properties of the phages. These data indicate that temperate phages of P. aeruginosa retain lytic activity after prolonged periods of chronic infection in the CF lung, and suggest that temperate phage lysis may contribute to regulation of P. aeruginosa density in vivo.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: bacteriophages, population dynamics
Subjects: ?? QR ??
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 07 Apr 2016 16:14
Last Modified: 08 Jan 2024 09:31
DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2014.223
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3000067

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