This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Harcombe, W. R.
Right arrow Articles by Bull, J. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Harcombe, W. R.
Right arrow Articles by Bull, J. J.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Harcombe, W. R.
Right arrow Articles by Bull, J. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2005, p. 5254-5259, Vol. 71, No. 9
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.9.5254-5259.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Impact of Phages on Two-Species Bacterial Communities

W. R. Harcombe* and J. J. Bull

Section of Integrative Biology, Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712

Received 18 December 2004/ Accepted 5 April 2005

A long history of experimental work has shown that addition of bacteriophages to a monoculture of bacteria leads to only a temporary depression of bacterial levels. Resistant bacteria usually become abundant, despite reduced growth rates relative to those of phage-sensitive bacteria. This restoration of high bacterial density occurs even if the phages evolve to overcome bacterial resistance. We believe that the generality of this result may be limited to monocultures, in which the resistant bacteria do not face competition from bacterial species unaffected by the phage. As a simple case, we investigated the impact of phages attacking one species in a two-species culture of bacteria. In the absence of phages, Escherichia coli B and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium were stably maintained during daily serial passage in glucose minimal medium (M9). When either of two E. coli-specific phages (T7 or T5) was added to the mixed culture, E. coli became extinct or was maintained at densities that were orders of magnitude lower than those before phage introduction, even though the E. coli densities with phage reached high levels when Salmonella was absent. In contrast, the addition of a phage that attacked only Salmonella (SP6) led to transient decreases in the bacterial number whether E. coli was absent or present. These results suggest that phages can sometimes, although not always, provide long-term suppression of target bacteria.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Integrative Biology, University of Texas CO930, Austin, TX 78712. Phone: (512) 232-6283. Fax: (512) 471-3878. E-mail: harcombe{at}mail.utexas.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2005, p. 5254-5259, Vol. 71, No. 9
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.9.5254-5259.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • McLaughlin, M. R., Brooks, J. P. (2008). EPA Worst Case Water Microcosms for Testing Phage Biocontrol of Salmonella. J. Environ. Qual. 37: 266-271 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»