Find in Library

The rapid increase in the number of worldwide human infections caused by the extremely antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogen <i>Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</i> is cause for concern. An alternative treatment solution in the post-antibiotic era is phage therapy, the use of bacteriophages to selectively kill bacterial pathogens. In this study, the novel bacteriophage AXL3 (vB_SmaS-AXL_3) was isolated from soil and characterized. Host range analysis using a panel of 29 clinical <i>S. maltophilia</i> isolates shows successful infection of five isolates and electron microscopy indicates that AXL3 is a member of the <i>Siphoviridae</i> family. Complete genome sequencing and analysis reveals a 47.5 kb genome predicted to encode 65 proteins. Functionality testing suggests AXL3 is a virulent phage and results show that AXL3 uses the type IV pilus, a virulence factor on the cell surface, as its receptor across its host range. This research identifies a novel virulent phage and characterization suggests that AXL3 is a promising phage therapy candidate, with future research examining modification through genetic engineering to broaden its host range.