Exploring bacteriophages that contribute to controlling pathogenic bacteria in next-generation water supply system with decreased chlorine

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18895
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Civil engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Kitajima Masaaki 北海道大学, 工学研究院, 助教 (30777967)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: バクテリオファージ / 水系感染性細菌 / 水道 / 遺伝子解析 / 単離 / 下水

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study focused on Shigella, which is one of the most significant cause of health hazards in the world among waterborne pathogenic bacteria, and explored virulent bacteriophages (phages) infecting Shigella followed by characterization of the isolated phage strains. Genomic characterization based on full-genome sequence information was performed for a phage strain isolated from municipal wastewater. The result of genomic analysis showed that the isolated phage possessed 168-kb double-stranded linear DNA as a genome. The full-genome sequence was compared with phage genome information deposited in the database, which revealed that the isolated phage is a previously unknown phage belonging to the family Myoviridae. This study provides novel information on bacteriophages infecting Shigella.

Free Research Field

環境工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、水系感染性細菌の制御に資するバクテリオファージを環境中から探索するための方法論を確立した。赤痢菌に感染するバクテリオファージを都市下水中から単離し、単離したファージの全ゲノム配列を解読することで特性を解析した。この方法論は、赤痢菌のみならずあらゆる水系感染性細菌のバクテリオファージ探索に応用することができ、塩素低減型の次世代水道において問題となりうる病原細菌の再増殖をバクテリオファージを利用して制御する際に有用な知見となるものである。