Open AccessAnalysis of Four New Enterococcus faecalis Phages and Modeling of a Hyaluronidase Catalytic Domain from Saphexavirus
Author(s) -
Gustavo Di Lallo,
Mattia Falconi,
Federico Iacovelli,
Domenico Frezza,
Pietro D’Addabbo
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
phage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2641-6549
pISSN - 2641-6530
DOI - 10.1089/phage.2021.0003
Subject(s) - microbiology and biotechnology , enterococcus faecalis , siphoviridae , biology , lytic cycle , phage therapy , hyaluronidase , enterococcus , biofilm , coccus (insect) , bacteria , virology , gene , enzyme , staphylococcus aureus , genetics , bacteriophage , virus , escherichia coli , biochemistry , ecology , antibiotics
Background: Phage therapy (PT), as a method to treat bacterial infections, needs identification of bacteriophages targeting specific pathogenic host. Enterococcus faecalis , a Gram-positive coccus resident in the human gastrointestinal tract, may become pathogenic in hospitalized patients showing acquired resistance to vancomycin and thus representing a possible target for PT. Materials and Methods: We isolated four phages that infect E. faecalis and characterized them by host range screening, transmission electron microscopy, and genome sequencing. We also identified and three-dimensional modeled a new hyaluronidase enzyme. Results: The four phages belong to Siphoviridae family: three Efquatrovirus (namely vB_EfaS_TV51, vB_EfaS_TV54, and vB_EfaS_TV217) and one Saphexavirus (vB_EfaS_TV16). All of them are compatible with lytic cycle. vB_EfaS_TV16 moreover presents a gene encoding for a hyaluronidase enzyme. Conclusions: The identified phages show features suggesting their useful application in PT, particularly the Saphexavirus that may be of enhanced relevance in PT because of its potential biofilm-digestion capability.