title: Temperate phages enhance pathogen fitness in chronic lung infection.
abstract: The Liverpool Epidemic Strain (LES) is a polylysogenic, transmissible strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, capable of superinfecting existing P. aeruginosa respiratory infections in individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). The LES phages are highly active in the CF lung and may have a role in the competitiveness of the LES in vivo. In this study, we tested this by competing isogenic PAO1 strains that differed only by the presence or absence of LES prophages in a rat model of chronic lung infection. Lysogens invaded phage-susceptible populations, both in head-to-head competition and when invading from rare, in the spatially structured, heterogeneous lung environment. Appreciable densities of free phages in lung tissue confirmed active phage lysis in vivo. Moreover, we observed lysogenic conversion of the phage-susceptible competitor. These results suggest that temperate phages may have an important role in the competitiveness of the LES in chronic lung infection by acting as anti-competitor weapons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Emily V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.|School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Chloe E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kukavica-Ibrulj
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Levesque
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brockhurst
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Infection, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Winstanley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000502:physiology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D008242:Lysogeny; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000382:microbiology*