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Arch Microbiol (2014) 196:209218 DOI 10.1007/s00203-014-0954-6
ORIGINAL PAPER
Characterization and classication of Bo4 as a cluster G mycobacteriophage that can infect and lyse M. tuberculosis
Yiling Gan Tingting Wu Ping Liu Shuliang Guo
Received: 21 November 2013 / Revised: 19 January 2014 / Accepted: 21 January 2014 / Published online: 7 February 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
member of the cluster G family. Additionally, annotation of the Bo4 genome indicated that it was a lytic bacteriophage and did not contain any harmful genes that increased myco-bacterial virulence or decreased human immunity. Overall, the results of investigation indicate that the Bo4 possesses the potential to destroy M. tuberculosis, making it a potentially useful tool for diagnosing and treating tuberculosis.
Keywords Lytic mycobacteriophage Biological characteristics Genomic analysis
Introduction
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is certainly one of the most successful and sophisticated pathogens to infect humans worldwide. Like other infectious diseases, an ever-increasing number of drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains frequently arise, but the development of new and effective anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs has been difcult (Tomioka and Namba 2006). Bacteriophages that are capable of lysing their bacterial hosts (OFlaherty et al. 2009) possess several characteristics that may make them ideal antimicrobial candidates, including high specicity, rapid self-proliferation, and wide availability. Therapy using mycobacteriophages, which specically infect mycobacteria, has become a highlight of research into new anti-TB drugs. Particularly effective are mycobacteriophage cocktails that simultaneously destroy various strains of M. tuberculosis and reduce the mutation frequency of phage-resistant M. tuberculosis (McNerney and Traor 2005; Gu et al. 2012). Moreover, the mycobacteriophage D29 has demonstrated a potent ability to infect and destroy M. tuberculosis and has been successfully applied to diagnose and treat TB (McNerney et al. 2004; Li 2006; Li et al. 2009).
Abstract Mycobacteriophage therapy is a potential alternative treatment for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Here, we further characterized a mycobacteriophage, Bo4, and evaluated its ability to infect and kill M. tuberculosis. We rst found that Bo4 can infect M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium smegmatis. The observed clear plaques created by Bo4 infection indicated that Bo4 might be a lytic phage able to lyse mycobacterial strains, which was conrmed by phage antimicrobial activity. Bo4 formed clear zones in a medium with pH values of 7.4 or 5.0, suggesting the possibility that Bo4 could...