Phage-bacterial evolutionary interactions: experimental models and complications

Abstract

Phage treatment of bacterial infections has offered some hope even as the crisis of antimicrobial resistance continues to be on the rise. However, bacterial resistance to phage is another looming challenge capable of undermining the effectiveness of phage therapy. Moreover, the consideration of including phage therapy in modern medicine calls for more careful research around every aspect of phage study. In an attempt to adequately prepare for the events of phage resistance, many studies have attempted to experimentally evolve phage resistance in different bacterial strains, as well as train phages to evolve counter-infectivity of resistant bacterial mutants, in view of answering such questions as coevolutionary dynamics between phage and bacteria, mechanisms of phage resistance, fitness costs of phage resistance on bacteria, etc. In this review, we summarised many such studies and by careful examination, highlighted critical issues to the outcome of phage therapy. We also discuss the insufficiency of many of these in vitro studies to represent actual disease conditions during phage application, alongside other complications that exist in phage-bacterial evolutionary interactions. Conclusively, we present the exploitation of phage-bacterial interactions for successful infection managements, as well as some future perspectives to direct phage research.

Keywords:

• Coevolution
• phage resistance
• antimicrobial resistance
• fitness costs
• phage therapy

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre funding from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). GK Oyejobi was supported by scholarship from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC).