title: Isolation and characterization of phi AB2: a novel bacteriophage of Acinetobacter baumannii.
abstract: Multidrug-resistant strains of Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) are increasingly being reported worldwide. Bacteriophage therapy is a potential alternative treatment for MDR bacterial infections. Although A. baumannii infection has been experimentally treated with phages, no MDRAB-specific phage has been characterized. In this study, 10 phages with differing host ranges and lysis efficacy for MDRAB were isolated; one of these, phi AB2, was further studied. Electron microscopy revealed phi AB2 to have an isometric head (60 nm), a short tail (diameter, 9 nm; length, 11 nm) and a double-stranded DNA genome--which was resistant to digestion with several restriction endonucleases--estimated to be 40 kb by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Partial genome sequencing of a 2.1 kb region gave sequences resembling the tubular proteins A and B of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage LKA1. These data suggest that phi AB2 resembles phi KMV-like phages and is a new member of the Podoviridae family. It exhibited rapid adsorption (>99% adsorbed in 8 min), a short latent period (<10 min) and a large burst size (ca. 200); moreover, it was capable of infecting a wide spectrum of A. baumannii strains, causing virtually complete lysis, indicating that phi AB2 may be a good candidate as a therapeutic/disinfectant agent to control nosocomial infections caused by MDRAB.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology Immunology and Molecular Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 970, Taiwan. ntlin@mail.tcu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Nien-Tsung
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Pei-Yu
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.forename: Kai-Chih
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Li-Kuang
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Meng-Jiun
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D040981:Acinetobacter baumannii / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017902:Podoviridae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure