A highly abundant bacteriophage discovered in human faecal
Metagenomics, or sequencing of the genetic material from a complete microbial community, is a promising tool to discover novel microbes and viruses. Viral metagenomes typically contain many unknown sequences. Here we describe the discovery of a previously uni- dentified bacteriophage present in the majority of published human faecal metagenomes, which we refer to as crAssphage.
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Phage based strategy to target intracellular bacteria
Bacteriophage-aided intracellular killing of engulfed MRSA
The present study highlights the possibility of using the broad host range lytic phage MR-5 in treating MRSA infections. The phage exhibited potent intra- cellular activity against engulfed bacteria, thus taking care of both extracellular as well as intracellular populations. This shall lead to the arrest of intracellular staphylococcal growth within the host cells that possibly is responsible for the relapse of infection. This study provides solid evidence to suggest that phage MR-5 appears to be a potential therapeutic candidate, and its efficacy in the treatment of staphylococcal infections should be evaluated in vivo in different animal models. The work in this direction is in progress in our laboratory.