Can mycobacteriophages be used to treat tuberculosis?
Finally, we also show that mycobacteriophages are infective and efficient against M. tuberculosis and prevent its growth for several weeks. These findings have important implications for developing phage therapy against Mycobacterium.
What is a Mycobacterium phage?
Abstract. Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts. A large number of mycobacteriophages have been isolated and genomically characterized, providing insights into viral diversity and evolution, as well as fueling development of tools for mycobacterial genetics.
How many clusters of phages are there?
These phages fall into 30 distinct types (called clusters) that have little enough nucleotide sequence similarity to each other to allow the unambiguous assignment of clusters (Hatfull, 2014).
Is there a bacteriophage for tuberculosis?
Bacteriophages infecting M. tuberculosis were first isolated in the 1950s (14) and have been used to type clinical isolates (15). Four major subtypes of M. tuberculosis (A, B, C, and I) have been described (16, 17), each of which differs in their phage susceptibility profiles (18).
What kind of virus is bacteriophage?
A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. In fact, the word “bacteriophage” literally means “bacteria eater,” because bacteriophages destroy their host cells. All bacteriophages are composed of a nucleic acid molecule that is surrounded by a protein structure.
What phage protein is necessary to maintain a stable Lysogen?
Two phage proteins, Int and CI, are required to form stable lysogens. Int allows the integration of the phage genome into the bacterial chromosome, and CI represses the two early phage promoters to prevent any lytic phage gene expression.
Who discovered Mycophages?
Since 1947, when mycobacteriophages were first isolated and identified by Gardner et al (2), >3,680 types of mycobacteriophage have been isolated from different sources, of which >544 types of mycobacteriophages have undergone complete genome sequencing (3).
How could phage therapy treat a resistant bacterial infection?
Phages work against both treatable and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. They may be used alone or with antibiotics and other drugs. Phages multiply and increase in number by themselves during treatment (only one dose may be needed). They only slightly disturb normal “good” bacteria in the body.
How does bacteriophage infect?
To infect bacteria, most bacteriophages employ a ‘tail’ that stabs and pierces the bacterium’s membrane to allow the virus’s genetic material to pass through. The most sophisticated tails consist of a contractile sheath surrounding a tube akin to a stretched coil spring at the nanoscale.
Can a bacteriophage infect a human?
Phages cannot infect human cells, and so they pose no threat to us. Figure 2 – Bacteriophages have protein heads and tails, which are packed with DNA. When a phage attacks a bacterium, it injects its DNA. The bacterium them makes more phages that are released when the bacterium bursts.
What are the conditions to establish successful Lysogen?
Establishment of lysogeny involves what is known as a lysis–lysogeny decision, which occurs 10–15 min after the start of infection with phage λ under standard laboratory conditions. Lysogenic cycles result when levels of λ CII protein are high, whereas lytic cycles occur when levels of CII protein are low.
What is the difference between lysogeny and latency?
Virus latency (or viral latency) is the ability of a pathogenic virus to lie dormant (latent) within a cell, denoted as the lysogenic part of the viral life cycle. A latent viral infection is a type of persistent viral infection which is distinguished from a chronic viral infection.