Novel Drexlerviridae bacteriophage KMI8 with specific lytic activity against Klebsiella michiganensis and its biofilms

PLoS One. 2021 Sep 7;16(9):e0257102. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257102. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The bacterial genus Klebsiella includes the closely related species K. michiganensis, K. oxytoca and K. pneumoniae, which are capable of causing severe disease in humans. In this report we describe the isolation, genomic and functional characterisation of the lytic bacteriophage KMI8 specific for K. michiganensis. KMI8 belongs to the family Drexlerviridae, and has a novel genome which shares very little homology (71.89% identity over a query cover of only 8%) with that of its closest related bacteriophages (Klebsiella bacteriophage LF20 (MW417503.1); Klebsiella bacteriophage 066039 (MW042802.1). KMI8, which possess a putative endosialidase (depolymerase) enzyme, was shown to be capable of degrading mono-biofilms of a strain of K. michiganensis that carried the polysaccharide capsule KL70 locus. This is the first report of a lytic bacteriophage for K. michiganensis, which is capable of breaking down a biofilm of this species.

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Capsules / metabolism
  • Bacteriophages / growth & development
  • Bacteriophages / isolation & purification
  • Bacteriophages / physiology*
  • Bacteriophages / ultrastructure
  • Biofilms*
  • Codon / genetics
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial / genetics
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • Host Specificity
  • Klebsiella / genetics
  • Klebsiella / virology*
  • Microbial Viability
  • Open Reading Frames / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Proteomics

Substances

  • Codon

Supplementary concepts

  • Klebsiella michiganensis

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.