Therapeutic Application of Phages against Clinically Important Bacteria and Zoonoses

Dear Colleagues,

Clinically relevant bacteria like Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae (so-called ESKAPE organisms) are of high importance, as the number of infections associated with them are on a rise. Bacteria of these species are widespread, since they are able to adapt to the prevailing environmental conditions by the exchange of genetic material (i.e., DNA, RNA). The uptake of plasmids and bacteriophages can support their survival and might also be associated with the acquisition of antimicrobial and biocide resistance, which further increase their clinical importance. As the number of human infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria is steadily increasing and the prevailing therapeutic options for their treatment are reduced and sometimes exhausted, alternative treatment strategies are needed.

More than a hundred years ago, a potential treatment alternative was discovered by Frederick Tworth and Felix d’Herelle. The discovery of bacteriophages (phages) and their lytic activity against bacteria provides an easy option to combat bacterial infections. For some decades, the use of phages received high attention, but with the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics, phages were set aside due to their high specificity. As the introduction of antimicrobials in the clinical routine often rapidly leads to the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, questions on the economic and plausibility of the discovery of novel antimicrobial substances arises. In this context, bacteriophages reclaim attention as “a forgotten cure”, especially to fight life-threatening MDR bacteria. Some companies worldwide as well as different associations have recognized the suitability of phages and have developed cocktails of well-characterized collections of phages for different application strategies. However, up to now, the availability of well-characterized and assessed phages for use in the different sectors (i.e., veterinary and human) is limited. This Special Issue will support the publication of novel results on the use of bacteriophages to fight bacteria (clinically relevant as well as zoonotic bacteria).

Manuscripts in this Special Issue should provide insight into at least one of the following subjects:

• Bacteriophages and their lytic action on zoonotic and clinically relevant bacteria (including foodborne pathogens)
• Different aspects of phage biocontrol and therapy
• Occurrence, characterization, and distribution of lytic bacteriophages from different sources (i.e., environment, animals, humans, wastewater, etc.)
• Interactions of lytic bacteriophages and their hosts
• Different aspects of phage resistance mechanisms in bacteria
• Dissemination of antimicrobial resistance by bacteriophages
• Reports on novel phage genomes against important zoonotic bacteria and human pathogens and their characterization

Dr. Jens André Hammerl
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Bacteriophages
• biocontrol
• application
• therapy
• assessment
• phage-host interaction
• genome
• whole-genome sequencing