Harnessing the diversity ofBurkholderiaspp. prophages for therapeutic potential

Abstract

AbstractBurkholderiaspp. are often resistant to antibiotics, and infections with these organisms are difficult to treat. A potential alternative treatment forBurkholderiaspp. infections is bacteriophage (phage) therapy; however, it can be difficult to locate phages that target these bacteria. Prophages incorporated into the bacterial genome have been identified withinBurkholderiaspp. and may represent a source of useful phages for therapy. Here we investigate whether prophages withinBurkholderiaspp. clinical isolates can kill conspecific and heterospecific isolates. Thirty-twoBurkholderiaspp. isolates were induced for prophage release, and harvested prophages were tested for lytic activity against the same 32 isolates. Lytic phages were passaged and their host ranges were determined, resulting in four unique phages of prophage origin that showed different ranges of lytic activity. We also analyzed the prophage content of 35Burkholderiaspp. clinical isolate genomes, and identified several prophages present in the genomes of multiple isolates of the same species. Finally, we observed thatB. cenocepaciaisolates were more phage-susceptible thanBurkholderia multivoransisolates. Overall, our findings suggest that prophages present withinBurkholderiaspp. genomes are a potentially useful starting point for the isolation and development of novel phages for use in phage therapy.