#phages

Collaborating researchers have made a breakthrough discovery regarding the intricate defense systems of bacteriophages (phages)—viruses that can specifically target harmful bacteria without harming human cells and beneficial microbes. The researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research & Technology's (SMART) Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) interdisciplinary research group, alongside the University of Otago and other collaborators from Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore), Delft University of Technology, University of Canterbury and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found a novel type of phage DNA modification, with the addition of up to three arabinose sugars, which could help to protect phage DNA from being damaged and survive bacterial attacks.

George Eliava – Scientist of h Day

George (Giorgi) Eliava, a Georgian microbiologist, was born Jan. 13, 1892, in Sachkhere in west Georgia, then part of the Russian Empire. 

Phage Two

To fight the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, scientists are teaming up with the natural enemies of bacteria, viruses called phages. Focusing on Mycobacterium abscessus bacteria, which can cause serious lung disease, particularly in cystic fibrosis patients, researchers recently identified a promising weapon, a phage known as Muddy. Treatment with Muddy damaged colonies of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in culture, and reduced symptoms in infected zebrafish larvae (pictured, with bacteria in red, invading the brain). In a zebrafish model of cystic fibrosis, injections of Muddy phages after infection with antibiotic-resistant M. abscessus dramatically improved survival, especially when paired with an antibiotic: twelve days after infection, only 20% of larvae survived without treatment, compared to 40% with either phages or antibiotics alone, and 70% after combined treatment. With much still to learn about phage therapy, zebrafish provide a useful model to explore how antibiotics and phage can work together to defeat resistant bacteria.

Written by Emmanuelle Briolat

Image from work by Matt D. Johansen and colleagues, Kremer Lab

Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 9004, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

Image copyright held by the original authors

Published in Disease Models & Mechanisms, September 2021