Meeting global food demands for a growing human population with finite natural resources is a major challenge. Aquaculture and agriculture are critical to satisfy food requirements, yet suffer significant losses from bacterial diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel antimicrobial strategies, which is heightened by increasing antibiotic resistance. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that specifically infect bacteria, and phage-derived therapies are promising treatments in the fight against bacterial diseases. Here, we describe multiple ways that phages and phage-based technologies can be used as antimicrobials. Antimicrobial activity can be achieved through lysis of targeted bacteria by virulent phages or lytic enzymes. Alternatively, phages can be engineered for the delivery of lethal genes and other cargoes to kill bacteria and to manipulate the bacterial response to conventional antibiotics. We also briefly highlight research exploring phages as potential biocontrol agents with examples from agriculture and aquaculture.
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December 2018
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Dysfunctional cytoskeleton and neurodegeneration: novel pathways in Parkinson's disease? This image represents the degeneration of the neuronal tree during the aging process. In this issue Civiero et al. discuss the consequence of impaired cytoskeletal dynamics on neurite morphology and neuronal physiology in Parkinson's disease. For further details see pages 1653–1663.
Review Article|
December 04 2018
Phage-based biocontrol strategies and their application in agriculture and aquaculture
Ron L. Dy;
1National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Correspondence: Ron L. Dy (rvdy@up.edu.ph) or Peter C. Fineran (peter.fineran@otago.ac.nz)
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Luciano A. Rigano;
Luciano A. Rigano
2Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
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Peter C. Fineran
3Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
4Bio-Protection Research Centre, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Correspondence: Ron L. Dy (rvdy@up.edu.ph) or Peter C. Fineran (peter.fineran@otago.ac.nz)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
August 29 2018
Revision Received:
October 28 2018
Accepted:
November 05 2018
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2018
Biochem Soc Trans (2018) 46 (6): 1605–1613.
Article history
Received:
August 29 2018
Revision Received:
October 28 2018
Accepted:
November 05 2018
Citation
Ron L. Dy, Luciano A. Rigano, Peter C. Fineran; Phage-based biocontrol strategies and their application in agriculture and aquaculture. Biochem Soc Trans 17 December 2018; 46 (6): 1605–1613. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20180178
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