Characterization of a novel genus of jumbo phages and their application in wastewater treatment

Ming Hu; Bo Xing; Minghua Yang; Rui Han; Huazheng Pan; Hui Guo; Zhen Liu; Tao Huang; Kang Du; Shangyi Jiang; Qian Zhang; Wenjing Lu; Xun Huang; Congzhao Zhou; Junhua Li; Wenchen Song; Ziqing Deng; Minfeng Xiao

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106947

Characterization of a novel genus of jumbo phages and their application in wastewater treatment

iScience. 2023 May 25;26(6):106947. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106947. eCollection 2023 Jun 16.

Authors

Ming Hu¹, Bo Xing^{2

3}, Minghua Yang^{2

4

5}, Rui Han^{6

3}, Huazheng Pan⁷, Hui Guo⁷, Zhen Liu¹, Tao Huang⁸, Kang Du⁹, Shangyi Jiang¹⁰, Qian Zhang¹¹, Wenjing Lu¹², Xun Huang¹³, Congzhao Zhou⁹, Junhua Li^{2

5}, Wenchen Song^{2

5}, Ziqing Deng^{2

6

5}, Minfeng Xiao^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Special Medicine, Basic Medicine College, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China.
² BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
³ School of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ BGI College, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450000, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Unknown Pathogen Identification, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
⁶ BGI-Beijing, Beijing 102601, China.
⁷ Department of The Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, China.
⁸ Department of Kidney Transplantation, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, China.
⁹ University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.
¹⁰ Duke Kunshan University, Suzhou 215316, China.
¹¹ Department of Prosthodontics, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, China.
¹² Department of Dermatology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao), Qingdao 266000, China.
¹³ Infection Control Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China.

Abstract

Phages widely exist in numerous environments from wastewater to deep ocean, representing a huge virus diversity, yet remain poorly characterized. Among them, jumbo phages are of particular interests due to their large genome (>200 kb) and unusual biology. To date, only six strains of jumbo phages infecting Klebsiella pneumoniae have been described. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of two jumbo phages from hospital wastewater representing the sixth genus: φKp5130 and φKp9438. Both phages showed lytic activity against broad range of clinical antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae strains and distinct physiology including long latent period, small burst size, and high resistance to thermal and pH stress. The treatment of sewage water with the phages cocktail resulted in dramatic decline in K. pneumoniae population. Overall, this study provides detailed molecular and genomics characterization of two novel jumbo phages, expands viral diversity, and provides novel candidate phages to facilitate environmental wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Applied sciences; Engineering; Water resources engineering.