Training of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lytic bacteriophages to overcome bacterial resistance

• Grant number: 23/06729-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: January 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Biology and Physiology of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Regina Lúcia Baldini
• Grantee: Ana Beatriz Mendes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10577-0 - Biology of Bacteria and Bacteriophages Research Center, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Bacterial predation by phages drives an ongoing phage-host arms race. While bacteria defend themselves against phage predation with a large repertoire of defenses, phages evolve strategies crucial for their successful infection and propagation. Most known phages have a narrow host range, generally infecting specific strains/isolates of a given bacterial species. Nevertheless, broad-host-range phages or phages that overcome bacterial phage resistance have been either isolated from the environment, engineered, and/or evolved (trained) in the laboratory. Phage training is an approach to evolve a wild-type phage to overcome a bacterial resistance to infection. Phage training has been a common practice and has allowed the expansion phage diversity in repositories of therapeutic phages. In this project we will evaluate and set up protocols for phage training using as model the phages ZC01 and ZC03 which have a narrow host range and infect Pseudomonas aeruginosa reference strain PA14.