Phage native and engineered endolysins as antimicrobial agents against Salmonella spp. bacteria

• Grant number: 24/19448-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: September 07, 2025
• End date: July 06, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Brocchi
• Grantee: Jéssica Duarte da Silva
• Supervisor: Rob Lavigne
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Leuven, Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/14021-1 - Phage endolysins (ELs) as antimicrobial agents to Gram-negative bacteria, BP.PD

Abstract

Salmonella spp. is the most significant foodborne pathogen of the Enterobacteriaceae family, capable of infecting both animals and humans. The genus possesses more than 2,600 serovars, and the non-typhoidal (NTF) ones cause salmonellosis, a diarrheic disease that can progress to systemic infections and even lead to death. Annually, several outbreaks of salmonellosis are reported worldwide, and in approximately 85% of the cases the infections are related to the ingestion of poisoned food. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect bacteria. At the beginning of the 20th century, they were considered promising alternatives for the treatment of bacterial diseases, but they were left aside as the studies involving antibiotics advanced. In the last years, the concerning increase of antimicrobial resistance has led to a renewed interest in bacteriophages for controlling bacterial growth and infections. Nowadays, phage-based therapies not only exploit the direct use of phage particles but also the use of phage-encoded antibacterial enzymes, such as endolysins and depolymerases. The objectives of this work are (i) to identify endolysins present in the genome of recently isolated Salmonella-infecting phages, (ii) to evaluate their extracellular antibacterial effect against Gram-negative bacteria, and (iii) to improve their antibacterial effect by using genetic engineering approaches, such as the VersaTile technology.