A1 Journal article (refereed)
Bacteriophage Adherence to Mucus Mediates Preventive Protection against Pathogenic Bacteria (2019)
Almeida, G. M. F., Laanto, E., Ashrafi, R., & Sundberg, L.-R. (2019). Bacteriophage Adherence to Mucus Mediates Preventive Protection against Pathogenic Bacteria. mBio, 10(6), Article e01984-19. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01984-19
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Almeida, Gabriel M. F.; Laanto, Elina; Ashrafi, Roghaleh; Sundberg, Lotta-Riina
Journal or series: mBio
ISSN: 2161-2129
eISSN: 2150-7511
Publication year: 2019
Volume: 10
Issue number: 6
Article number: e01984-19
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
Publication country: United States
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01984-19
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Open Access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/66452
Abstract
Metazoans were proposed to host bacteriophages on their mucosal surfaces in a symbiotic relationship, where phages provide an external immunity against bacterial infections and the metazoans provide phages a medium for interacting with bacteria. However, scarce empirical evidence and model systems have left the phage-mucus interaction poorly understood. Here, we show that phages bind both to porcine mucus and to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) primary mucus, persist up to 7 days in the mucosa, and provide protection against Flavobacterium columnare. Also, exposure to mucus changes the bacterial phenotype by increasing bacterial virulence and susceptibility to phage infections. This trade-off in bacterial virulence reveals ecological benefit of maintaining phages in the metazoan mucosal surfaces. Tests using other phage-bacterium pairs suggest that phage binding to mucus may be widespread in the biosphere, indicating its importance for disease, ecology, and evolution. This phenomenon may have significant potential to be exploited in preventive phage therapy.
Keywords: bacteria; virulence; bacteriophages; phage therapy; mucous membranes; fish diseases
Free keywords: bacterial virulence; bacteriophage therapy; bacteriophages; hostpathogen interactions; mucosal pathogens
Contributing organizations
Related projects
- CRISPR and antagonistic coevolution with bacterial viruses – linking molecular evolution of both host and its parasite
- Sundberg, Lotta-Riina
- Research Council of Finland
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2019
JUFO rating: 1