Bacteriophages from human skin infecting coagulase-negative Staphylococcus: diversity, novelty and host resistance.

Alsaadi, Samah E, Lu, Hanshuo, Zhang, Minxing, Dykes, Gregory F, Allison, Heather E and Horsburgh, Malcolm J ORCID: 0000-0002-3806-0039 (2024) Bacteriophages from human skin infecting coagulase-negative Staphylococcus: diversity, novelty and host resistance. Scientific reports, 14 (1). 8245-.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59065-9

Abstract

The human skin microbiome comprises diverse populations that differ temporally between body sites and individuals. The virome is a less studied component of the skin microbiome and the study of bacteriophages is required to increase knowledge of the modulation and stability of bacterial communities. Staphylococcus species are among the most abundant colonisers of skin and are associated with both health and disease yet the bacteriophages infecting the most abundant species on skin are less well studied. Here, we report the isolation and genome sequencing of 40 bacteriophages from human skin swabs that infect coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) species, which extends our knowledge of phage diversity. Six genetic clusters of phages were identified with two clusters representing novel phages, one of which we characterise and name Alsa phage. We identified that Alsa phages have a greater ability to infect the species S. hominis that was otherwise infected less than other CoNS species by the isolated phages, indicating an undescribed barrier to phage infection that could be in part due to numerous restriction-modification systems. The extended diversity of Staphylococcus phages here enables further research to define their contribution to skin microbiome research and the mechanisms that limit phage infection.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Skin, Humans, Staphylococcus, Bacteriophages, Staphylococcus Phages, Coagulase, Genome, Viral
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	11 Apr 2024 09:38
Last Modified:	12 Apr 2024 11:32
DOI:	10.1038/s41598-024-59065-9
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59065-9
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3180276