Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria is one of the current greatest challenges of the healthcare system. Since multidrug-resistancy is rapidly spreading, development of novel antibiotics is not a feasible strategy. Therefore, new alternative antimicrobial agents are necessary. Using bacteriophages â�� the natural enemies of bacteria â�� is a promising alternative approach. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that are obligate intracellular parasites of bacteria, which could be applied to control also multidrug resistant bacteria. The consortium of Enviroinvest Co., University of P�©cs and University of Szeged established a scientific center in order to develop phage therapeutic products against human-, animal- and plant pathogenic bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus, is a Gram-positive bacterium which is responsible for numerous infections worldwide. The emergence methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant (VRSA) cell lines made the treatment of S. aureus infections more difficult. The aim of this research was to find effective bacteriophages against S. aureus. Several potential candidates were isolated. Lysogenic bacteriophages are not suitable for therapeutic use, therefore our research focused on strictly lytic ones. Few candidates have been found which had strictly lytic phenotype. In order to use them in bacteriophage therapy, their morpoholgical characters, maximal titer, lytic spectra/host specificity and genomic sequence must be determined. Therefore, we have sequenced the viral genomes. In one lytic phage, several spontaneous mutations in the integrase gene could be recognized. These mutations could account for the strictly lytic phenotype of the bacteriophage. The complete genome sequence also allowed us to compare the new phage with previously sequenced ones.

Biography

Zsolt Doffkay has completed his MSc degree and studied at University of Szeged, Faculty of Science and Informatics as biologist (Molecular-, Immun- and Microbiology specialization). He started his PhD programme at Doctoral School of Biology in 2013 and his supervisor is Dr. Gábor Rákhely.

Email: zsolt.doffkay@bio.u-szeged.hu