Characterization of an Enterococcus faecalis Bacteriophage vB_EfaM_LG1 and Its Synergistic Effect With Antibiotic

• Published in: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology 2021-07, Vol.11, p.698807-698807
• Main Authors: Song, Min, Wu, Dongmei, Hu, Yang, Luo, Haiyan, Li, Gongbo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: antibiotic resistance; bacteriophage; Cellular and Infection Microbiology; Enterococcus faecalis; phage therapy; phage-antibiotic combination
• ISSN: 2235-2988; 2235-2988
• DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.698807

Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen that could cause pneumonia and bacteremia in stroke patients. The development of antibiotic resistance in hospital-associated E. faecalis is a formidable public health threat. Bacteriophage therapy is a renewed solution to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. However, bacteria can acquire phage resistance quite quickly, which is a significant barrier to phage therapy. Here, we characterized a lytic E. faecalis bacteriophage Vb_EfaM_LG1 with lytic activity. Its genome did not contain antibiotic resistance or virulence genes. Vb_EfaM_LG1 effectively inhibits E. faecalis growth for a short period, and phage resistance developed within hours. However, the combination of antibiotics and phage has a tremendous synergistic effect against E. faecalis , prevents the development of phage resistance, and disrupts the biofilm efficiently. Our results show that the phage-antibiotic combination has better killing efficiency against E. faecalis .