Real-time assessment of bacteriophage T3-derived antimicrobial activity against planktonic and biofilm-embedded Escherichia coli by isothermal microcalorimetry

Publication date: Available online 7 June 2018Source: Research in MicrobiologyAuthor(s): Tamta Tkhilaishvili, Mariagrazia Di Luca, Gerardo Abbandonato, Elena Maryka Maiolo, Ann-Brit Klatt, Monika Reuter, Elisabeth Möncke-Buchner, Andrej TrampuzAbstractBacterial biofilms, highly resistant to the conventional antimicrobial therapy, remain an unresolved challenge pressing the medical community to investigate new and alternative strategies to fight chronic implant-associated infections. Recently, strictly lytic bacteriophages have been revalued as powerful agents to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria even in biofilm. Here, the interaction of T3 bacteriophage and planktonic and biofilm Escherichia coli TG1, respectively, was evaluated using isothermal microcalorimetry. Microcalorimetry is a non-invasive and highly sensitive technique measuring growth-related heat production of microorganisms in real-time. Planktonic and biofilm E. coli TG1 were exposed to different titers of T3 bacteriophage, ranging from 102 to 107 PFU/ml. The incubation of T3 with E. coli TG1 showed a strong inhibition of heat production both in planktonic and biofilm already at lower bacteriophage titers (103 PFU/ml). This method could be used to screen and evaluate the antimicrobial potential of different bacteriophages, alone and in combination with antibiotics in order to improve the treatment success of biofilm-associated infections.
Source: Research in Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research