They can be used in combination with antibiotics or on their own to destroy antibiotic resistant bacteria. Lytic phages are viruses that infect and lyse the bacterial cell, but do not risk the transfer of antibiotic genes. Also, antibiotic resistant genes in the bacteria do not affect the ability of the phage to infect the bacteria. Once the infection is determined, the correct phage could be administered to the patient and the phage would work to lyse the bacterial cell responsible for the infection. Getting rid of the infection, despite the bacteria being antibiotic resistant.
Titer refers to the number of plaque forming units per milliliter and it is a way to quantify the number of active phage particles in your isolated phage lysate. A “high titer” is a concentrated solution of the phage lysate that can lyse a lot cells per milliliter of lysate used. The titer of our high titer lysate was 2.7*10^12 pfu/mL.
Loved your presentation! Do phages work in the same way in different bacterial settings? I guess my question is could your phage work on all antibiotic resistance bacteria or only specific ones? k
Great question. My phage could not work on all antibiotic resistant bacteria. Each phage only infects a small number of bacteria and this investigation only confirmed the phage to infect m.Smegmatis, but it is possible it infects others. However, the way phage infect bacteria only depends on if they are lytic or lysogenic, not the kind of bacteria.
Burst size refers to the size of the plaque. In the image the plaques are the clear holes in the top agar and represent the cells lysed by the phage. The burst size usually is a characteristic of a specific phage, and two different burst sizes usually indicates two different phages. However, due to several rounds of purification and our further experiments we think that we have isolated a single phage that exhibits a variable burst size which is an uncommon characteristic.
How can bacteriophages be used to combat antibiotic resistance?
They can be used in combination with antibiotics or on their own to destroy antibiotic resistant bacteria. Lytic phages are viruses that infect and lyse the bacterial cell, but do not risk the transfer of antibiotic genes. Also, antibiotic resistant genes in the bacteria do not affect the ability of the phage to infect the bacteria. Once the infection is determined, the correct phage could be administered to the patient and the phage would work to lyse the bacterial cell responsible for the infection. Getting rid of the infection, despite the bacteria being antibiotic resistant.
What does “high titer” refer to?
Titer refers to the number of plaque forming units per milliliter and it is a way to quantify the number of active phage particles in your isolated phage lysate. A “high titer” is a concentrated solution of the phage lysate that can lyse a lot cells per milliliter of lysate used. The titer of our high titer lysate was 2.7*10^12 pfu/mL.
Loved your presentation! Do phages work in the same way in different bacterial settings? I guess my question is could your phage work on all antibiotic resistance bacteria or only specific ones? k
Great question. My phage could not work on all antibiotic resistant bacteria. Each phage only infects a small number of bacteria and this investigation only confirmed the phage to infect m.Smegmatis, but it is possible it infects others. However, the way phage infect bacteria only depends on if they are lytic or lysogenic, not the kind of bacteria.
In figure 3 you refer to a difference in “burst sizes”, what does this refer to and what do these differences mean?
Burst size refers to the size of the plaque. In the image the plaques are the clear holes in the top agar and represent the cells lysed by the phage. The burst size usually is a characteristic of a specific phage, and two different burst sizes usually indicates two different phages. However, due to several rounds of purification and our further experiments we think that we have isolated a single phage that exhibits a variable burst size which is an uncommon characteristic.