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• Faster, D
• Aertsen, A
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Viruses 2013, 5(1), 150-161; doi:10.3390/v5010150

Communication

Lysogenic Conversion and Phage Resistance Development in Phage Exposed Escherichia coli Biofilms

Pieter Moons ^† , David Faster and Abram Aertsen*

Laboratory of Food Microbiology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M2S), Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, 3001 Leuven, Belgium ^† Present address: Laboratory of Medical Microbiology, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, Universiteit Antwerpen, Universiteitsplein 1, S6.21, 2610 Antwerpen, Belgium.

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 11 December 2012; in revised form: 3 January 2013 / Accepted: 9 January 2013 / Published: 11 January 2013

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Progress in Bacteriophage Research)

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Abstract: In this study, three-day old mature biofilms of Escherichia coli were exposed once to either a temperate Shiga-toxin encoding phage (H-19B) or an obligatory lytic phage (T7), after which further dynamics in the biofilm were monitored. As such, it was found that a single dose of H-19B could rapidly lead to a near complete lysogenization of the biofilm, with a subsequent continuous release of infectious H-19B particles. On the other hand, a single dose of T7 rapidly led to resistance development in the biofilm population. Together, our data indicates a profound impact of phages on the dynamics within structured bacterial populations.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; biofilm; lysogenic conversion; resistance development; Shiga toxin; phage

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