Journal of Bacteriology & Parasitology

Increase of phage production resulting from overexpression of hybC in Escherichia coli

46^th World Congress on Microbiology

September 18-19, 2017 Dublin, Ireland

Yoonjung Hwang, Kyun Keun Oh and Heejoon Myung

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Bacteriol Parasitol

Abstract:

Phage-antibiotic synergy (PAS) refers to the phenomenon where phage production increases in the presence of sub-lethal concentrations of antibiotics. In our previous studies, PAS was related to bacterial SOS-response (increase in recA and decrease in ftsZ) and resulting filamentation. We have checked various combinations of phage-bacteria-antibiotics and observed that SOS-response and filamentation did not always accompany increased phage production. We carried out RNAsequencing from total RNA of Escherichia coli where phage T4 infected in the presence of sub-lethal concentration of an antibiotic, ciprofloxacin. Expression of hybC increased in the presence of the antibiotic. hybC encodes a hydrogenase involved in hydrogen uptake. We overexpressed hybC in the absence of the antibiotic and could observe bacterial filamentation and increase in burst size when the cell was infected by phages. Although the phenomenon resembled PAS, there was no increase in recA. Thus, we concluded that there is a case where PAS is not dependent on SOS-response.

Biography :

Yoonjung Hwang is a graduate student in Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea. She has been doing research on isolation of new bacteriophages from water or soil since 2015. Now she focuses on immune responses caused by bacteriophage.