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PLoS ONE. Selection and Characterization of a Candidate Therapeutic Bacteriophage That Lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 Strain from the 2011 Outbreak in Germany
[Source: PLoS ONE, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]
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Research Article
Selection and Characterization of a Candidate Therapeutic Bacteriophage That Lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 Strain from the 2011 Outbreak in Germany
Maia Merabishvili 1, Daniel De Vos 2, Gilbert Verbeken 3, Andrew M. Kropinski 4, Dieter Vandenheuvel 5, Rob Lavigne 6, Pierre Wattiau 7, Jan Mast 8, Catherine Ragimbeau 9, Joel Mossong 10, Jacques Scheres 11, Nina Chanishvili 12, Mario Vaneechoutte 13, Jean-Paul Pirnay 14
Affiliations: 1 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia, Laboratory of Bacteriology Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 2 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; 3 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; 4 Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; 5 Laboratory of Gene Technology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium; 6 Laboratory of Gene Technology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium; 7 Unit of Highly Pathogenic & Foodborne Zoonoses, Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium; 8 Electron Microscopy Unit, Veterinary and Agrochemical 8 Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium; 9 Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Laboratoire National de Sant?, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 10 Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Laboratoire National de Sant?, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 11 Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden; 12 Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia; 13 Laboratory of Bacteriology Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 14 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
In 2011, a novel strain of O104:H4 Escherichia coli caused a serious outbreak of foodborne hemolytic uremic syndrome and bloody diarrhea in Germany. Antibiotics were of questionable use and 54 deaths occurred. Candidate therapeutic bacteriophages that efficiently lyse the E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain could be selected rather easily from a phage bank or isolated from the environment. It is argued that phage therapy should be more considered as a potential armament against the growing threat of (resistant) bacterial infections.
Citation: Merabishvili M, De Vos D, Verbeken G, Kropinski AM, Vandenheuvel D, et al. (2012) Selection and Characterization of a Candidate Therapeutic Bacteriophage That Lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 Strain from the 2011 Outbreak in Germany. PLoS ONE 7(12): e52709. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052709
Editor: David M. Ojcius, University of California Merced, United States of America
Received: August 22, 2012; Accepted: November 20, 2012; Published: December 21, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Merabishvili et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work was suported by the Royal Higher Institute for Defense (grant MED 12). The authors would like to acknowledge the Research community ?Phagebiotics? (WO.022.09) grant from the FWO Vlaanderen. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: jean-paul.pirnay@mil.be
-Selection and Characterization of a Candidate Therapeutic Bacteriophage That Lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 Strain from the 2011 Outbreak in Germany
Maia Merabishvili 1, Daniel De Vos 2, Gilbert Verbeken 3, Andrew M. Kropinski 4, Dieter Vandenheuvel 5, Rob Lavigne 6, Pierre Wattiau 7, Jan Mast 8, Catherine Ragimbeau 9, Joel Mossong 10, Jacques Scheres 11, Nina Chanishvili 12, Mario Vaneechoutte 13, Jean-Paul Pirnay 14
Affiliations: 1 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia, Laboratory of Bacteriology Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 2 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; 3 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium; 4 Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; 5 Laboratory of Gene Technology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium; 6 Laboratory of Gene Technology, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium; 7 Unit of Highly Pathogenic & Foodborne Zoonoses, Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium; 8 Electron Microscopy Unit, Veterinary and Agrochemical 8 Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium; 9 Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Laboratoire National de Sant?, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 10 Surveillance and Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Laboratoire National de Sant?, Luxembourg, Luxembourg; 11 Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden; 12 Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia; 13 Laboratory of Bacteriology Research, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; 14 Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
In 2011, a novel strain of O104:H4 Escherichia coli caused a serious outbreak of foodborne hemolytic uremic syndrome and bloody diarrhea in Germany. Antibiotics were of questionable use and 54 deaths occurred. Candidate therapeutic bacteriophages that efficiently lyse the E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain could be selected rather easily from a phage bank or isolated from the environment. It is argued that phage therapy should be more considered as a potential armament against the growing threat of (resistant) bacterial infections.
Citation: Merabishvili M, De Vos D, Verbeken G, Kropinski AM, Vandenheuvel D, et al. (2012) Selection and Characterization of a Candidate Therapeutic Bacteriophage That Lyses the Escherichia coli O104:H4 Strain from the 2011 Outbreak in Germany. PLoS ONE 7(12): e52709. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052709
Editor: David M. Ojcius, University of California Merced, United States of America
Received: August 22, 2012; Accepted: November 20, 2012; Published: December 21, 2012
Copyright: ? 2012 Merabishvili et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work was suported by the Royal Higher Institute for Defense (grant MED 12). The authors would like to acknowledge the Research community ?Phagebiotics? (WO.022.09) grant from the FWO Vlaanderen. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
* E-mail: jean-paul.pirnay@mil.be
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