Novel Bacteriophages Capable of Disrupting Biofilms From Clinical Strains of Aeromonas hydrophila

Mwila Kabwe; Teagan Brown; Lachlan Speirs; Heng Ku; Michael Leach; Hiu Tat Chan; Steve Petrovski; Peter Lock; Joseph Tucci

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.00194

Novel Bacteriophages Capable of Disrupting Biofilms From Clinical Strains of Aeromonas hydrophila

Front Microbiol. 2020 Feb 14:11:194. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00194. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mwila Kabwe¹, Teagan Brown¹, Lachlan Speirs¹, Heng Ku¹, Michael Leach², Hiu Tat Chan³, Steve Petrovski⁴, Peter Lock⁵, Joseph Tucci¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² School of Rural Health, Monash University, Bendigo, VIC, Australia.
³ Department of Microbiology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Microbiology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁵ La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

The increase in global warming has favored growth of a range of opportunistic environmental bacteria and allowed some of these to become more pathogenic to humans. Aeromonas hydrophila is one such organism. Surviving in moist conditions in temperate climates, these bacteria have been associated with a range of diseases in humans, and in systemic infections can cause mortality in up to 46% of cases. Their capacity to form biofilms, carry antibiotic resistance mechanisms, and survive disinfection, has meant that they are not easily treated with traditional methods. Bacteriophage offer a possible alternative approach for controlling their growth. This study is the first to report the isolation and characterization of bacteriophages lytic against clinical strains of A. hydrophila which carry intrinsic antibiotic resistance genes. Functionally, these novel bacteriophages were shown to be capable of disrupting biofilms caused by clinical isolates of A. hydrophila. The potential exists for these to be tested in clinical and environmental settings.

Keywords: Aeromonas hydrophila; antimicrobial resistance; bacteriophage; biofilm; genomics.