Effect of Antibiotic Treatment on Bacteriophage Production by a Cystic Fibrosis Epidemic Strain ofPseudomonasaeruginosa

Abstract

ABSTRACTPhage production in response to antibiotics varied among four isolates of aPseudomonasaeruginosacystic fibrosis (CF) epidemic strain. Whereas ciprofloxacin induced higher levels of phage production, other CF-relevant antibiotics led to reduced production. We detected free phages directly in CF patient sputum samples by both plaque (40% positive) and PCR (76% positive) assays. Our observations suggest that the choice of antibiotics could influence the number of free phages within the CF lung environment.