Isolation and characterization of novel antimicrobial genes against mycobacteria through the exploitation of Mycobacteriophages genes

Abstract

Mycobacterial infections are responsible for some of the most well known disease, including Tuberculosis. Reported cases of infections caused by mycobacteria that are becoming increasingly resistant to traditional antibiotics are on the increase. This calls for a new approach in developing new drugs that can act on novel antimicrobial targets. One such alternative involves the use of bacteriophages and the study of how they interact with their hosts. Their diversity also suggests that there are many different phage-host interactions acting on multiple targets that are currently still unknown. Eight phages were isolated and characterized. Genomic libraries were constructed on four of these phages and screened for antimicrobial activities using Rhodococcus erythropolis. Six clones were further analyzed, and 15 ORFs were predicted with 8 ORFs being assigned functions. These genes with similarity to proteins in the database suggest that they are involved in membrane integrity and DNA metabolism. These clones were further tested on Saccharomyces cerevisiae to determine whether they have any effects on eukaryotes. The lack of inhibition in S. cerevisiae suggests these phage products are confined to act only in bacteria after millions of years of co-evolution with their host counterparts, and further studies into these genes will continue to shed light on bacterial genomics.