Isolation and characterization of a novel lytic bacteriophage vB_Efm_LG62 infecting Enterococcus faecium

In this study, we isolated and characterized a novel virulent bacteriophage, vB_Efm_LG62, that specifically infects multidrug-resistantE. faecium. Morphological observations suggested that the phage has siphovirus morphology, with an optimal multiplicity of infection of 0.001. One-step growth tests revealed that its latent growth was at 20  min, with a burst size of 101 PFU/cell. Phage vB_Efm_LG62 was verified to have a double-stranded genome of 42,236 bp (35.21% GC content), containing 66 predicted coding sequences as determined by whole genomic sequencing. No genes were predicted to have functions associated with virulence factor s or antibiotic resistance, indicating that the phage vB_Efm_LG62 has good therapeutic potential. Our isolation and characterization of this highly efficient phage aids in expanding our knowledge ofE. faecium-targeting phages, and provides additional options for phage cocktail therapy.
Source: Virus Genes - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research