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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Lotta-Riina Sundberg

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Guest Editor

Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Nanoscience center, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
Interests: bacterial virulence; phage therapy; antimicrobials; intensive farming

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of antibiotics is increasing at the global scale. At the same time, the emergence of more virulent bacterial strains and the difficulties associated with the treatment of the diseases they cause are major concerns for human and animal health. Phage-based tools have high potential to be used in the control of bacterial infections and in manipulating their virulence. On the other hand, phage-encoded genes have a central role in bacterial virulence and resistance towards similar phages.

This Special Issue seeks manuscript submissions describing how phages influence the emergence and/or control of bacterial pathogenicity. This scope covers changes in bacterial pathogenicity under phage pressure, especially in the context of phage therapy, and aspects of phage-encoded virulence factors and phages as mobile genetic elements. Submissions covering significant human, animal, and plant pathogens are welcome.

Dr. Sundberg Lotta-Riina
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Phage therapy
Manipulation of bacterial virulence
Evolution of pathogenicity
Horizontal gene transfer

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

19 pages, 3622 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Delivery Methods in Phage Therapy against Flavobacterium columnare Infections in Rainbow Trout

by Heidi M. T. Kunttu, Anniina Runtuvuori-Salmela, Mathias Middelboe, Jason Clark and Lotta-Riina Sundberg

Antibiotics 2021, 10(8), 914; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics10080914 - 27 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3490

Abstract

Viruses of bacteria, bacteriophages, specifically infect their bacterial hosts with minimal effects on the surrounding microbiota. They have the potential to be used in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections, including in the field of food production. In aquaculture settings, disease-causing bacteria are often transmitted through the water body, providing several applications for phage-based targeting of pathogens, in the rearing environment, and in the fish. We tested delivery of phages by different methods (via baths, in phage-coated material, and via oral delivery in feed) to prevent and treat Flavobacterium columnare infections in rainbow trout fry using three phages (FCOV-S1, FCOV-F2, and FCL-2) and their hosts (FCO-S1, FCO-F2, and B185, respectively). Bath treatments given before bacterial infection and at the onset of the disease symptoms were the most efficient way to prevent F. columnare infections in rainbow trout, possibly due to the external nature of the disease. In a flow-through system, the presence of phage-coated plastic sheets delayed the onset of the disease. The oral administration of phages first increased disease progression, although total mortality was lower at the end of the experiment. When analysed for shelf-life, phage titers remained highest when maintained in bacterial culture media and in sterile lake water. Our results show that successful phage therapy treatment in the aquaculture setting requires optimisation of phage delivery methods in vivo. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phages and the Evolution of Bacterial Pathogenicity)

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Review

Jump to: Research

17 pages, 661 KiB

Open AccessReview

Potential Solutions Using Bacteriophages against Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria

by Aryan Rahimi-Midani, Seon-Woo Lee and Tae-Jin Choi

Antibiotics 2021, 10(12), 1496; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics10121496 - 06 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3086

Abstract

Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect a bacterial host. They play a great role in the modern biotechnology and antibiotic-resistant microbe era. Since the discovery of phages, their application as a control agent has faced challenges that made antibiotics a better fit for combating pathogenic bacteria. Recently, with the novel sequencing technologies providing new insight into the nature of bacteriophages, their application has a second chance to be used. However, novel challenges need to be addressed to provide proper strategies for their practical application. This review focuses on addressing these challenges by initially introducing the nature of bacteriophages and describing the phage-host-dependent strategies for phage application. We also describe the effect of the long-term application of phages in natural environments and other bacterial communities. Overall, this review gathered crucial information for the future application of phages. We predict the use of phages will not be the only control strategy against pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, more studies must be done for low-risk control methods against antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phages and the Evolution of Bacterial Pathogenicity)

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