Hidden virus found common in germs that cause pneumonia — Study
A virus long dismissed as a scientific oddity has been found hiding in plain sight, and it may help fight dangerous bacteria, according to a study
- SYDNEY — A virus long dismissed as a scientific oddity has been found
hiding in plain sight, and it may help fight dangerous bacteria, according to a
study.
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- The study focussed on bacteriophages (phages) -- viruses
that infect bacteria and come in many forms. In particular, researchers
investigated telomere phages -- a type of phage that until now was considered a
‘curiosity’.
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- These viruses aren't just passive passengers as they may
actually help good bacteria wipe out neighbouring bad ones, Xinhua news agency
reported.
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- Previous studies decoded only their unique DNA
replication mechanism. The new study, published in Science Advances, discovered
that bacteria carrying telomere phages produce toxins that kill off rival
bacteria.
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- Researchers from Monash University, Australia discovered
that telomere phage is surprisingly common in Klebsiella. Klebsiella is a type
of bacteria that can cause pneumonia and serious drug-resistant infections.
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- "For more than 20 years of intensive bacterial
genomics, telomere phages had remained hidden in plain sight. We have missed an
entire aspect of biology," said Trevor Lithgow, head of Monash Biomedicine
Discovery Institute Bacterial Cell Biology Lab.
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- Lithgow stated sequencing a clinical Klebsiella strain
led to the finding of a fourth telomere phage.
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- The analysis revealed that telomere phages are not rare
curiosities. Instead, these are highly prevalent throughout the thousands of
lineages of Klebsiella, including strains collected from waterway environments,
the researcher said.
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- Further, the discovery of toxins -- ‘telocins’ (for
telomere-phage toxins) -- was found to enable a bacterial management strategy.
While the ‘good’ bacteria carrying telomere phages will kill neighbouring ‘bad’
Klebsiella, the ‘bad’ bacteria would be antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella,
Lithgow said.
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- "We now want to understand how the host secretes the
toxin and also understand how the toxin wheedles its way into the unsuspecting
bacterial neighbors," said Sally Byers from the Lithgow Laboratory.
