Journal
PLOS ONE
Volume 13, Issue 2, Pages -Publisher
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192507
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Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [310030-125325]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [310030_125325] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
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The recent rise of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria represents a serious threat to public health and makes the search for novel effective alternatives to antibiotics a compelling need. Bacteriophage (Phage) lysins are enzymes that hydrolyze the cell wall of bacteria and represent a promising alternative to tackle this ever-increasing problem. Despite their use is believed to be restricted to Gram-positive bacteria, recent findings have shown that they can also be used against Gram-negative bacteria. By using a phage genome-based screening approach, we identified and characterized a novel lysin, PlyE146, encoded by an Escherichia coli prophage and with a predicted molecular mass of ca. 17 kDa. PlyE146 is composed of a C-terminal cationic peptide and a N-terminal N-acetylmuramidase domain. Histidine-tagged PlyE146 was overexpressed from a plasmid in Lactococcus lactis NZ9000 and purified by NI-NTA chromatography. PlyE146 exhibited in vitro optimal bactericidal activity against E. coli K12 (3.6 log(10) CFU/mL decrease) after 2 h of incubation at 37 degrees C at a concentration of 400 mu g/mL in the absence of NaCl and at pH 6.0. Under these conditions, PlyE146 displayed antimicrobial activity towards several other E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3 to 3.8-log(10) CFU/mL decrease) and Acinetobacter baumannii (4.9 to >5-log(10) CFU/mL decrease) strains. Therefore, PlyE146 represents a promising therapeutic agent against E. coli, P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii infections. However, further studies are required to improve the efficacy of PlyE146 under physiological conditions.
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