Isolation and Characterization of Lytic <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> Bacteriophages Isolated from Sewage Samples from Tunisia
Ismahen Akremi,
Maya Merabishvili,
Mouna Jlidi,
Adel Haj Brahim,
Manel Ben Ali,
Anis Karoui,
Rob Lavigne,
Jeroen Wagemans,
Jean-Paul Pirnay,
Mamdouh Ben Ali
Affiliations
Ismahen Akremi
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Enzymatics and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour km 6, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Maya Merabishvili
Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Bruynstraat 1, B-1120 Brussels, Belgium
Mouna Jlidi
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Enzymatics and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour km 6, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Adel Haj Brahim
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Enzymatics and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour km 6, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Manel Ben Ali
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Enzymatics and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour km 6, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Anis Karoui
Agrovet, Street of Tunis km 1, Soliman 8020, Tunisia
Rob Lavigne
Laboratory of Gene Technology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 21-Box 2462, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Jeroen Wagemans
Laboratory of Gene Technology, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 21-Box 2462, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Jean-Paul Pirnay
Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Bruynstraat 1, B-1120 Brussels, Belgium
Mamdouh Ben Ali
Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Enzymatics and Biomolecules (LBMEB), Center of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, Road of Sidi Mansour km 6, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia
Bacteriophages could be a useful adjunct to antibiotics for the treatment of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. In this study, lytic P. aeruginosa myoviruses PsCh, PsIn, Ps25, and Ps12on-D were isolated from Tunisian sewage samples. Phage Ps12on-D displayed an adsorption time of ~10 min, a short latency period (~10 min), and a large burst size (~115 PFU per infected cell) under standard growth conditions. All phages were active at broad temperature (4 °C to 50 °C) and pH (3.0 to 11.0) ranges and were able to lyse a wide variety of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from clinical and environmental samples worldwide. Illumina sequencing revealed double-stranded DNA genomes ranging from 87,887 and 92,710 bp with high sequence identity to Pseudomonas phage PAK_P1. All four phages based on sequence analysis were assigned to the Pakpunavirus genus. The presented characterization and preclinical assessment are part of an effort to establish phage therapy treatment as an alternative strategy for the management of multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa infections in Tunisia.
