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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Matt BawnORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Bacteriophage (phage) are promising novel antimicrobials, but a key challenge to their effective implementation is the rapid emergence of phage resistance. This study investigates the molecular basis of changes in phage sensitivity between Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains. The authors show that resistant strains arise through deletion of a genomic region affecting the wzy locus, which encodes an O-antigen polymerase. This deletion occurs between flanking repeat sequences and is enriched under phage exposure. Importantly, the deletion is reversible, with strains capable of reverting to the wild type under certain conditions. These findings support a model in which reversible excision of the wzy locus enables bacterial populations to survive phage predation and later recover, highlighting implications for phage therapy strategies
Author(s): Charity OJ, Thilliez G, Al-Khanaq H, Acton L, Kolenda R, Bawn M, Petrovska L, Kingsley RA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: PLOS Genetics
Year: 2025
Volume: 21
Issue: 5
Online publication date: 02/05/2025
Acceptance date: 11/04/2025
Date deposited: 17/06/2026
ISSN (print): 1553-7390
ISSN (electronic): 1553-7404
Publisher: Public Library of Science
URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1011688
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011688
Data Access Statement: Whole genome sequence used in the analysis described in this manuscript are deposited in freely available in the Short Read Archive (SRA) of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in Bioproject PRJNA514245 and PRJNA1227906 and as detailed in S1 Table. All oligonucleotide primers used for genotyping or construction of recombinant bacterial strains are described in S2 Table. Numerical data that underlies graphs is in S4 file.
PubMed id: 40315401
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