I-Corps: Polyvalent Bacteriophages

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供一种有效和低成本的方法来抑制环境中致病菌或问题细菌的生长。人们越来越担心，抗生素和杀菌剂的广泛使用促进了耐药细菌菌株的进化，而目前几乎没有有效的治疗方法。拟议的技术正在开发中，作为抗生素和杀菌剂的一种更安全、更环保的可持续性替代品，或者可以作为联合治疗的一部分，以增强其效果。此外，所提出的技术是选择性的，可以针对群体中的特定细菌，从而保留有益物种的功能。这个项目的成功实施将导致开发出广泛的产品，用于控制人造环境和自然环境中的细菌。具体应用有望包括农业病原体的控制、石油储层酸化的缓解、废水处理工艺的优化以及微生物组工程。I-Corps项目基于一种新的技术平台，用于分离和应用极宽宿主范围（多价）噬菌体（仅感染细菌的病毒）。在科学研究中报告的绝大多数噬菌体和为商业用途开发的噬菌体的宿主范围很窄，可能是由于使用了有偏差的分离技术。相比之下，该技术只优先分离宿主范围很广的噬菌体。在许多自然和人造环境中，包括生物膜中，多价噬菌体在控制目标细菌方面具有比窄宿主范围噬菌体更有效的潜力。它们在抑制目标细菌生长方面的效果要高出10到100倍，并已成功地用于消除废水样本中99.99%的抗生素抗性基因。当与抗生素或杀菌剂联合使用时，该技术有望发挥协同作用，实现对问题细菌的长期和更彻底的控制。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide an effective and low-cost means for inhibiting the growth of pathogenic or problematic bacteria in the environment. There is growing concern that the widespread use of antibiotics and biocides has promoted the evolution of resistant bacterial strains for which there exist few effective treatments. The proposed technology is being developed as a safer and more environmentally sustainable alternative to antibiotics and biocides, or may be used as part of a combination treatment to enhance their effects. Additionally, the proposed technology is selective, and can target specific bacteria within a population, thus preserving the function of beneficial species. Successful implementation of this project will lead to the development of a wide range of products useful for controlling bacteria in both built and natural environments. Specific applications are expected to include the control of agricultural pathogens, mitigation of petroleum reservoir souring, optimization of wastewater treatment processes, and microbiome engineering.This I-Corps project is based on a novel technology platform for the isolation and application of extremely wide host-range (polyvalent) bacteriophages (viruses that only infect bacteria). The vast majority of bacteriophages reported in scientific studies and developed for commercial use have had a narrow host-range, likely due to the use of biased isolation techniques. In contrast, the proposed technology preferentially isolates only very wide host-range bacteriophages. Polyvalent bacteriophages have the potential to be significantly more effective than narrow host-range bacteriophages at controlling target bacteria in many natural and built environments, including biofilms. They have been shown to be 10- to 100-fold more effective at inhibiting the growth of their target bacteria, and have been successfully utilized to eliminate 99.99% of an antibiotic resistance gene from a wastewater sample. When used in combination with antibiotics or biocides, the technology is expected to work synergistically, enabling long-term and more complete control of problematic bacteria.