Viruses of Microbes 2022

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 8921

Special Issue Editors

Department of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Interests: bacteriophage research; Acinetobacter bacteriophages; bacteriophage genomics; biotechnology; taxonomy; phage-host interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Linnaeus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden
Interests: environmental virology; phage-host interactions; omics and bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Biology of Archaea and Viruses, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Interests: archaeal viruses; molecular biology of archaea; archaeal membrane biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to the Special Issue ‘Viruses of Microbes’, which is associated with the 2022 meeting of the International Society of Viruses of Microbes (IVSM) that will be held in Guimarães, Portugal. The central theme of the meeting and this Special Issue is to showcase the latest developments in the field by members of the IVSM. This Special Issue intends to provide a platform to present the latest advances in the research on microbial viruses, ranging across ecology and evolution, virus structure and function, virus–host interaction to biotechnology applications and phage therapy.

We specifically invite researchers studying viruses that infect microorganisms of all three domains of life to submit their work. We strongly believe that a collection of these research and review papers will be of great interest to a wide-ranging audience interested in both the fundamental and applied aspects of microbial viruses. In accordance with the ISVM 2020 meeting in Guimarães, this Special Issue will cover the following topics:

  • Ecology and evolution of microbial viruses
  • Virus structures and function
  • Virus–host interaction: overcoming cell barriers
  • Virus–host interaction: molecular mechanisms
  • Virus–host interaction: host defense and viral evasion mechanisms
  • Agri-food, veterinary, and environmental biotechnology applications
  • Biotechnology applications in health care
  • Current state and latest developments of phage therapy

We hope to collect a series of research articles that will reflect the full diversity of this field, highlighting current and future trends of fundamental and applied research.

ISVM members are entitled to a 20% discount on publication charges.

Dr. Dann Turner
Dr. Karin Holmfeldt
Dr. Tessa Quax
Guest Editors

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. Viruses 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 2600 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

  • ecology and evolution of microbial viruses
  • impact of microbial viruses on biochemical cycles
  • virus structures and function
  • virus-host interaction: overcoming cell barriers and molecular mechanisms
  • host defense and viral evasion mechanisms
  • agri-food, veterinary, and environmental biotechnology applications
  • biotechnology applications in health care
  • phage therapy

Related Special Issues

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3250 KiB  
Article
Comparative Genomics of a Polyvalent Escherichia-Salmonella Phage fp01 and In Silico Analysis of Its Receptor Binding Protein and Conserved Enterobacteriaceae Phage Receptor
by Ignacio Vasquez, Julio Retamales, Barbara Parra, Vimbai Machimbirike, James Robeson and Javier Santander
Viruses 2023, 15(2), 379; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/v15020379 - 28 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1808
Abstract
The polyvalent bacteriophage fp01, isolated from wastewater in Valparaiso, Chile, was described to have lytic activity across bacterial species, including Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovars. Due to its polyvalent nature, the bacteriophage fp01 has potential applications in the biomedical, food and agricultural [...] Read more.
The polyvalent bacteriophage fp01, isolated from wastewater in Valparaiso, Chile, was described to have lytic activity across bacterial species, including Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovars. Due to its polyvalent nature, the bacteriophage fp01 has potential applications in the biomedical, food and agricultural industries. Also, fundamental aspects of polyvalent bacteriophage biology are unknown. In this study, we sequenced and described the complete genome of the polyvalent phage fp01 (MH745368.2) using long- (MinION, Nanopore) and short-reads (MiSeq, Illumina) sequencing. The bacteriophage fp01 genome has 109,515 bp, double-stranded DNA with an average G+C content of 39%, and 158 coding sequences (CDSs). Phage fp01 has genes with high similarity to Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, and Shigella sp. phages. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that the phage fp01 is a new Tequintavirus fp01 specie. Receptor binding protein gp108 was identified as potentially responsible for fp01 polyvalent characteristics, which binds to conserved amino acid regions of the FhuA receptor of Enterobacteriaceae. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Microbes 2022)
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19 pages, 4277 KiB  
Article
Microcalorimetry: A Novel Application to Measure In Vitro Phage Susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus in Human Serum
by Michèle M. Molendijk, My V. T. Phan, Lonneke G. M. Bode, Nikolas Strepis, Divyae K. Prasad, Nathalie Worp, David F. Nieuwenhuijse, Claudia M. E. Schapendonk, Bouke K. H. L. Boekema, Annelies Verbon, Marion P. G. Koopmans, Miranda de Graaf and Willem J. B. van Wamel
Viruses 2023, 15(1), 14; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/v15010014 - 20 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1743
Abstract
Infections involving antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) represent a major challenge to successful treatment. Further, although bacteriophages (phages) could be an alternative to antibiotics, there exists a lack of correlation in phage susceptibility results between conventional in vitro and in [...] Read more.
Infections involving antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) represent a major challenge to successful treatment. Further, although bacteriophages (phages) could be an alternative to antibiotics, there exists a lack of correlation in phage susceptibility results between conventional in vitro and in vivo assays. This discrepancy may hinder the potential implementation of bacteriophage therapy. In this study, the susceptibility of twelve S. aureus strains to three commercial phage cocktails and two single phages was assessed. These S. aureus strains (including ten clinical isolates, five of which were methicillin-resistant) were compared using four assays: the spot test, efficiency of plating (EOP), the optical density assay (all in culture media) and microcalorimetry in human serum. In the spot test, EOP and optical density assay, all cocktails and single phages lysed both methicillin susceptible and methicillin resistant S. aureus strains. However, there was an absence of phage-mediated lysis in high concentrations of human serum as measured using microcalorimetry. As this microcalorimetry-based assay more closely resembles in vivo conditions, we propose that microcalorimetry could be included as a useful addition to conventional assays, thereby facilitating more accurate predictions of the in vivo susceptibility of S. aureus to phages during phage selection for therapeutic purposes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Microbes 2022)
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16 pages, 2556 KiB  
Article
Recombination Events in Putative Tail Fibre Gene in Litunavirus Phages Infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Their Phylogenetic Consequences
by Marcin Górniak, Aleksandra Zalewska and Agata Jurczak-Kurek
Viruses 2022, 14(12), 2669; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/v14122669 - 29 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1326
Abstract
Recombination is the main driver of bacteriophage evolution. It may serve as a tool for extending the phage host spectrum, which is significant not only for phages’ ecology but also for their utilisation as therapeutic agents of bacterial infections. The aim of this [...] Read more.
Recombination is the main driver of bacteriophage evolution. It may serve as a tool for extending the phage host spectrum, which is significant not only for phages’ ecology but also for their utilisation as therapeutic agents of bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to detect the recombination events in the genomes of Litunavirus phages infecting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and present their impact on phylogenetic relations within this phage group. The phylogenetic analyses involved: the whole-genome, core-genome (Schitoviridae conserved genes), variable genome region, and the whole-genome minus variable region. Interestingly, the recombination events taking place in the putative host recognition region (tail fibre protein gene and the adjacent downstream gene) significantly influenced tree topology, suggesting a strong phylogenetic signal. Our results indicate the recombination between phages from two genera Litunavirus and Luzeptimavirus and demonstrate its influence on phage phylogeny. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Microbes 2022)
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15 pages, 3200 KiB  
Article
Bacteriophage Cocktails in the Post-COVID Rehabilitation
by Fedor M. Zurabov, Ekaterina A. Chernevskaya, Natalia V. Beloborodova, Alexander Yu. Zurabov, Marina V. Petrova, Mikhail Ya. Yadgarov, Valentina M. Popova, Oleg E. Fatuev, Vladislav E. Zakharchenko, Marina M. Gurkova, Ekaterina A. Sorokina, Egor A. Glazunov, Tatiana A. Kochetova, Victoria V. Uskevich, Artem N. Kuzovlev and Andrey V. Grechko
Viruses 2022, 14(12), 2614; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/v14122614 - 23 Nov 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2966
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that gut dysbiosis is associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and may persist long after disease resolution. The excessive use of antimicrobials in patients with COVID-19 can lead to additional destruction of the microbiota, as well as to the [...] Read more.
Increasing evidence suggests that gut dysbiosis is associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and may persist long after disease resolution. The excessive use of antimicrobials in patients with COVID-19 can lead to additional destruction of the microbiota, as well as to the growth and spread of antimicrobial resistance. The problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics encourages the search for alternative methods of limiting bacterial growth and restoring the normal balance of the microbiota in the human body. Bacteriophages are promising candidates as potential regulators of the microbiota. In the present study, two complex phage cocktails targeting multiple bacterial species were used in the rehabilitation of thirty patients after COVID-19, and the effectiveness of the bacteriophages against the clinical strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae was evaluated for the first time using real-time visualization on a 3D Cell Explorer microscope. Application of phage cocktails for two weeks showed safety and the absence of adverse effects. An almost threefold statistically significant decrease in the anaerobic imbalance ratio, together with an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), was detected. This work will serve as a starting point for a broader and more detailed study of the use of phages and their effects on the microbiome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Viruses of Microbes 2022)
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