A virulent phage JHP against Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed infectivity against multiple genera

The resistance to antibiotics in clinically important bacteria is one of the major global health concerns. Phage therapy could be one reliable alternative therapeutic strategy to combat these superbugs. In this study, we assessed host range of a novel bacteriophage, JHP, and characterized for its potential use in phage therapy. The bacteriophage demonstrated infectivity over a broad range of genera including multidrug resistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, members of family Enterobacteracae, and other important human pathogens. The antibacterial activity was highest at pH 7, and at temperature of 37 degrees C. The phage lytic activity gradually decreased till 60 degrees C and showed no activity when temperature was further raised. The bacteriophage could safely be stored at 4 degrees C or -20 degrees C. The latent period of the bacteriophage was 25min and showed a burst size of 433 virions per cell. The size of JHP genome was approximately 30kb. Family, Siphoviridae was assigned to JHP based on its icosahedral head with non-contractile tail. The diameter of JHP head and tail length was found 115 and 152nm, respectively. To sum up, the broad spectrum Siphoviridae phage JHP is an ingenious candidate for phage therapy.