Title: Biosafety assessment of phiC120, a new bacteriophage to control multidrug-resistant Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains, based on genome sequence analysis

Biography:

Luis Lightbourn, president of the Instituto de Investigacion Lightbourn located at Mexico, he is an expert in microbial biotechnology, food safety, genomics, cell biology and has over 30 years of experience in biochemistry and molecular biology. Throughout his research career, he has focused on an application the metagenomic approach to food pathogen detection utilizing NGS as an analytical tool. He has made a major contribution to understanding the molecular microbial association-microbial interactions. Doctor Lightbourn has a range of expertise that has attracted invitations to contribute to a wide range of activities, including assessment of research strategy, industry consultation, and government advice. 

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Escherichia coli and several Salmonella serotypes are worldwide zoonotic pathogens with an enormous epidemiological, and economic impact as one of the leading causes of foodborne illness. The problem is exacerbated by the propensity of these pathogens to develop resistance to antibiotics that were once commonly used to treat them. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDRs) bacteria pathogens has sparked renewed interest in bacteriophages as a means of sanitation and biological control in the food processing. Therefore, the aim of this study was to isolate and characterize a lytic bacteriophage capable of infecting specific E. coli and Salmonella strains.  

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Phage was isolated from environmental samples using E. coli O157 strain as hosts. To develop an effective antimicrobial agent, bacteriophage called phiC120 was isolated from environmental samples using E. coli O157 strain as hosts and its genome was sequenced because of its ability to lyse the multidrug-resistant strains according to the host range. Moreover, the phage structure was investigated for transmission electron microscopy.

Findings: The bacteriophage has a broad host range of activity against multidrug-resistant E. coli and Salmonella strains. phiC120 was classified as a member of the Myoviridae family, but exhibit unusual morphological characteristics, up to now, have not been described for another phage. Analysis revealed that the phage phiC120 genome consists of 186,570 bp, encoding 281 putative ORFs. Our data indicate that phiC120 does not encode any of the genes associated with lysogeny or virulence factors.

Conclusion & Significance: Considering all these characteristics, phiC120 is a promising candidate for therapeutic and biological control of bacterial pathogens. However, further toxicological testing in animals and in vivo trials are needed to ensure the safety of phage used.