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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2006, p. 6405-6410, Vol. 72, No. 9
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.03011-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington 98505,1 Cerela-Conicet, Tucumán, Argentina,2 USDA Agricultural Station, College Station, Texas 778453
Received 21 December 2005/ Accepted 25 June 2006
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100 cells in humans
(5,
25). Infections can be
severe; symptoms include hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic-uremic
syndrome, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and even death
(23-25,
31). Although E.
coli O157:H7 infections can be linked to a variety of sources,
primary contamination is usually ruminant related; cattle and other
ruminants act as asymptomatic reservoirs
(2,
6,
7,
11,
12,
15,
17,
30). Despite extensive
intervention strategies, human E. coli O157:H7 infections
still occur (7,
9,
14). Thus, recent
research has focused on the development of preharvest interventions to
reduce the entry of the pathogen into the food chain. Bacteriophages
have been used successfully as antibacterial agents in both human and
veterinary medicine and are one potential preharvest E. coli
O157:H7 control strategy
(4,
8,
18,
20,
22,
28,
32-34,
39). In this study we
describe a new T4-like bacteriophage, CEV1, isolated from sheep
resistant to colonization by E. coli O157:H7, and we discuss
its potential to control this
pathogen. |
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109 CFU/sheep of novobiocin-resistant E.
coli O157:H7 (NCTC 12900). In the first 2 days following
inoculation, these sheep fecally shed
102 CFU/g
12900. By day 3, no viable 12900 was detected. Each sheep was
rechallenged with
1011 CFU 12900 and monitored,
with similar results. The sheep were then challenged with E.
coli O157:H7 EDL 933 (109 CFU/sheep). Again, fecal
shedding decreased rapidly, and by day 4, EDL933 levels
were below the detection limit. These results were unprecedented at our
facility, where both strains are routinely used in vivo (typically
104 CFU/g is shed fecally for
10 days).
Feces collected from these ewes tested positive for E. coli
O157:H7-infecting phage. By using our standard enrichment protocol, a
new bacteriophage, CEV1, was isolated
(10). CEV1 was active against 17/19 E. coli O157:H7 strains tested, 9 strains from 4/5 phylogenetic groups of the E. coli reference (ECOR) collection, lab strains B and K-12, and strains from serogroups O43, O126, O153, O158, and Omulti (Table 1) (27). No representatives from serogroups O15 and O50 were lysed by CEV1. Using a set of isogenic E. coli K-12 mutant pairs, with one member of each pair mutant for a specific outer membrane protein, it was found that CEV1 uses ompA as its receptor (data not shown) (16).
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View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Host
range of bacteriophage CEV1, as determined by spot
testsa
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180 kb (Fig.
1B) is digested by EcoRV
and NdeI but not by EcoRI, BamHI, PstI, SalI, or HindIII, suggesting
that CEV1 DNA contains a modified base, probably 5-hydroxymethyl
cytosine (data not shown). Based on its morphology and the sequence of
a 788-nucleotide DNA fragment (GenBank accession no.
AY331985) internal to the major capsid protein
gp23 (Fig. 1C),
CEV1 is closely related to T4 (95% sequence similarity) (Fig.
1D)
(40).
![]() View larger version (59K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Characterization
of phage CEV1. (A) Electron micrograph of bacteriophage CEV1.
Arrows indicate tail fibers. Dimensions: head, 100 nm by 85 nm;
contractile tail, 100 nm by 15 nm. (B) Pulsed-field gel
electrophoresis of phage DNA, as observed on an ethidium
bromide-stained low-melting-point agarose gel (1%, wt/vol)(0.5x TBE, consisting of 45 mM Tris-borate and 1 mM EDTA [pH
8]) run for 20 h at 6 V/cm and 14°C with a pulse
period of 45 to 90 s. Lanes 1 and 5, DNA ladder
(Bio-Rad); lane 2, T4 DNA (175 kb); lane 3, DNA ladder composed of
phage (Pseudomonas 2a
[290 kb], T4 [175 kb], CEV2 [120 kb], and Pseudomonas
2b [45 kb]) DNA; lane 4, CEV1 DNA. (C) Ethidium
bromide-stained agarose (1%, wt/vol) gel of DNA-PCR amplification
reactions using primers Cap8
(TGAAGTTACCTTCACCACGACCGG) and Mzia1
(TGTTATIGGTATGGTICGICGTGCTAT) for gp23
(40). First lane, 1-kb
DNA ladder (Invitrogen, CA); second lane, phage CEV1; third lane, phage
T4 (positive control); fourth lane, phage T5 (negative control). (D)
Unrooted phylogenetic tree constructed using the more variable internal
region (amino acids 115 to 302) of the gp23 head protein of a
number of T4-like phages, including T4 (Protein Data Bank
accession no. NP049787), T6 (Q38055), KC69
(AAF61696), Tu1a (AAF61691), SV14 (CAB01542), RB69 (AAF61699), RB49
(CAB01539), RB43 (AAF61698), and AR1 (Q9ZXI0); Enterobacter
cloacae phage 1 (AAF61700); Aeromonas salmonicida phages
44RR2.8t (44RR; AAF61693) and 65 (AAF61694); Aeromonas
hydrophila phage Aeh1 (AAF61695); Burkholderia cepacia
phage 42 (AAF61692); Vibrio natriegens phage nt-1 (AAF61697);
and Vibrio parahaemolyticus phages KVP20 (BAA25880) and KVP40
(BAA25567). Subgroups of phage types are indicated by shading: white,
schizo T-evens; light gray, pseudo T-evens; black,
T-evens.
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0.3)
were carried out in shake flasks containing tryptic soy broth (TSB) at
37°C with agitation. CEV1 displayed an eclipse period of 18
min, a latent period of 26 min, and a burst size of
150
PFU/cell in experiments at a low multiplicity of infection (MOI;
0.1) (data not shown). At an MOI of
5, >99%
of the phages adsorbed, the bacterial population was reduced 5 log
units, and progeny phages were observed within 20 min (upon treatment
with CHCl3, the burst size was
100 PFU/cell) (Fig.
2A). Limited and variable lysis inhibition was observed; lysis began between
30 to 120 min, depending on conditions and the MOI, and took 30 to 60
min to reach completion. Anaerobic infections of 12900 were
conducted using adaptations of the Hungate technique
(N2 headspace) in 126-ml butyl rubber-sealed serum bottles
containing TSB. Within 5 min, >97% of the phages adsorbed, and
by 20 min, levels of bacterial survivors fell 4 log units (Fig.
2B). Similarly efficient
anaerobic infections were observed in bovine rumen fluid and
colon-simulating media (data not shown)
(26).
![]() View larger version (16K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 2. CEV1
infections of E. coli O157:H7 NCTC 12900 growing in TSB under
conditions of either aerobic respiration (A) or fermentation
(B). Infection graphs shown are representative of at least three
replicates. Symbols: , OD600 of controlcultures; , OD600 of infected cultures; ,
CFU of bacterial survivors/ml; , PFU of phage/ml after the
addition of
chloroform.
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1010 CFU of novobiocin/nalidixic acid-resistant
933; after 3 days, 4/8 sheep were treated with a single oral dose of
CEV1 (
1011 PFU). The animals were humanely
euthanized 2 days later; bacterial counts (by plating on MacConkey agar
containing 20 µg/ml novobiocin and 25 µg/ml nalidixic
acid) of ruminal, cecal, and rectal contents showed that 933 levels
were reduced 2 to 3 log units (P > 0.05) in the ceca
and rectums of CEV1-treated sheep compared to levels in controls (Fig.
3).
![]() View larger version (16K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 3. Use
of CEV1 as a preslaughter treatment to remove resident E.
coli O157:H7 from the intestines of ruminants (sheep). Control
sheep (white bars) received only E. coli O157:H7
orally on day zero, while experimental sheep (gray bars) orally
received E. coli O157:H7 on day zero and then CEV1 on
day 3. Data were collected postmortem from various parts of the
animals' digestive tracts 5 days after O157:H7 inoculation and 2 days
after phage treatment. Error bars, standard
deviations.
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Extensive characterization of candidate phages is needed before any widespread application is implemented. Host selectivity is key; CEV1 lyses most E. coli O157:H7 strains and a limited number of commensal E. coli strains. This will create minimal disturbance to the gut biota, allowing the simultaneous use of probiotic E. coli to replace O157:H7 within the gastrointestinal niche and/or to maintain sufficient CEV1 levels to clear very low levels of E. coli O157:H7.
Our
finding that CEV1 is a close relative of T4 is advantageous; T4-like
phages have a long history of safe application and have been
intensively studied for >50 years
(13,
21,
35,
36). They are exclusively
lytic, and none encode pathogenicity islands, virulence/antibiotic
resistance genes, or integrases. The ability of CEV1 to efficiently
infect E. coli O157:H7 is, however, unusual among T4-like
phages; of the
100 such phages from our collection, only one
infects E. coli O157:H7 at an efficiency of >0.001
(data not shown). Two other reported T4-like O157:H7-infecting phages
(AR1 and PPO1) do not infect lab strains B and K-12, unlike CEV1 (AR1
infects 38/72 ECOR strains, as well as some Proteus,
Shigella, and Salmonella strains; PPO1 infects 8/72
ECOR strains, but with a specificity pattern different from that of
CEV1 (data not shown)
(16).
Previous
researchers have discussed the applications of O157:H7-infecting
phages, but each had some physiological constraint that limited its
application. O'Flynn et al. (2004) used a phage cocktail (PPO1, e4/1c,
and e11/2) to eliminate E. coli O157:H7 from artificially
contaminated meat (28).
This postslaughter approach would initially appear promising in
reducing the postplant E. coli O157:H7 load, but this
application appears impractical (an MOI of
106 and
a temperature of 37°C were used; no phage infection occurred at
lower temperatures). In contrast, our suggested approach with CEV1 is
to treat the live animal and thus reduce E. coli O157:H7
populations before entry into the food chain, allowing the use of phage
in conjunction with other methods to create a multilevel
barrier.
Other preharvest E. coli O157:H7 phage studies
have failed to demonstrate efficacy under real-world conditions. For
example, Kudva et al. reported in 1999 that their O157:H7-infecting
phages effectively killed EDL 932, but only aerobically (MOI,
103); thus, these phage were inappropriate for use
in the anaerobic gut
(20). Bach et al. (2003)
isolated phage DC22, which infected all 23 O157:H7 strains tested in
the lab but showed little or no efficacy in ruminant gut-simulating
chemostats or in lambs
(3). This reinforces the
importance of understanding infection parameters in vitro under
conditions relevant to the ecosystem where the phage will be used.
Tanji et al. (2005) found that a three-phage cocktail worked
effectively in vitro (aerobically and anaerobically) but was unable to
clear mice of E. coli during in vivo studies, again indicating
the complexity of this problem
(38). In our study,
infection of 12900 by CEV1 was productive in TSB aerobically and
anaerobically, as well as in both defined and gut-simulating media
(data not shown). Further, our in vivo trials show a substantial
reduction in intestinal E. coli O157:H7 levels in sheep
treated with a single oral dose of CEV1, suggesting that CEV1 shows
promise as a component in a treatment for the selective reduction of
E. coli O157:H7 levels in food animals.
In summary, although the United States is considered to have one of the world's safest food supply systems, people still become ill from bacterially contaminated food. Our results indicate that phages can reduce intestinal populations of E. coli O157:H7 and could play an important role in future preharvest pathogen reduction strategies. Furthermore, in studies attempting to use intestinal ecological modification, the potential impact of naturally resident phage must not be overlooked.
This work was kindly supported by NIH grants 1-R-15 GM63507 and 2-R15 GM063637-02 and by the USDA/ARS.
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