Posters and presentation information
Thank you for considering to present your work as a poster at Phages 2018.
Please prepare your poster in A1 portrait format (59cm wide x 84cm long). Please do not laminate your poster. Further information about poster sizes can be found on the following link:
Posters larger than A1 will only be displayed subject to the availability of space.
Maximum capacity 20 A1 potrait posters
Please ensure you have appropriate permissions for the publication of your abstract from the original copyright holders. Should you wish your abstract not to be published, please notify us in writing at the time of abstract submission.
Poster presenters will be required to send us their poster as PDF at least two weeks before the event. The posters will be made available via the event website or other electronic media after the event (see copyright terms).
>>Where can I print my poster in Oxford?
Posters will be displayed for the full duration of the conference.Titles of accepted poster abstracts will be displayed below.
Accepted posters
(Presenters in Bold)
If your abstract has been accepted for presentation but it does not appear in the list below, please let us know as soon as possible by email at PhageOxford@gmail.com.
A selection of posters can be downloaded on this link (password protected).
Refactoring and Debugging the P2vir1 genome for transduction only
Maria Ababi1, Christophe Corre2, Alfonso Jaramillo2
1Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7HL, UK
2School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7HL, UK
Refactoring originates from computer science, where programmers clean and restructure the already existing code for intuitive understanding and ease of use. This can also be applied in SynBio to improve performance and promote further development. Although information doubles every 18 months in public sequence databases, we do not meet an equivalent boost in synthetic biology applications. This could be due to our poor understanding of the biological system’s design…
Isolation of bacteriophage targeting Enterococcus sp
Alhassan Alrafaie1,2, Mohammed Al-Zubidi1, Robert Turner1, Joey Shepherd1, Graham P. Stafford1
1Integrated BioSciences, School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield, 19 Claremont 8Crescent, Sheffield, S10 2TA, UK
2Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia
Enterococci, chiefly Enterococcus faecalis and E. faecium, are Gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria, which are part of the human gastrointestinal microbiota and common isolates from a range of infections, including sepsis and wound infections, e.g. diabetic foot ulcers as well as endodontic root canal infections. In addition they are often resistant to many antibiotics, including Vancomycin (termed Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci- VRE)…
The effects of bacteriophages on the expression of immunologically important genes in Caco-2 cells
Jan Borysowski1, Ryszard Międzybrodzki 1,2, Maciej Przybylski3, Barbara Owczarek2, Beata Weber-Dąbrowska2, Andrzej Górski2
1Department of Clinical Immunology, Medical University of Warsaw, Nowogrodzka 59, 02-006 Warsaw, Poland
2Laboratory of Bacteriophages, L. Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Weigla 12, 53-114 Wrocław, Poland
3Department of Clinical Microbiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Chałubińskiego 5, 02-004 Warsaw, Poland
Bacteriophages are an abundant component of the mucosal microbiota in both humans and different animal species. Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) are the major component of the gut immune system. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of bacteriophages on the expression of immunologically important genes in Caco-2, a model cell line for IECs. Two bacteriophages were used in this study: T4 and A5/80. Bacteriophages were cultured…
Visualizing staphylococcal phage-bacteria warfare
Janine Bowring, Martin Saxtorph Bojer, Hanne Ingmer
Section of Food Safety and Zoonoses, Institute of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
The importance of phages in staphylococcal horizontal gene transfer has become increasingly apparent in recent years. On top of generalised and specialised transduction, staphylococcal phages have been shown capable of transferring bacterial DNA through auto-transduction and lateral transduction, at higher rates than previously estimated. As such, there is a need for greater understanding of the dynamics…
First report of phages that target Pseudomonas aeruginosa from East Africa
Rubén E. P. Bucio1, Susan Matts1, Janet Y. Nale1, Benjamin Chan2, Tobi Nagel3, Martha R. J. Clokie1
1Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, UK
2Yale University, USA
3Phages for Global Health, USA
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a growing global problem in human medicine, and in animal, aquaculture and plant pathology. It is estimated that the continual rise in MDR will lead to ~10 million people dying world-wide and cost ~$100 trillion by the year 2050. The threat from MDR is predicted to be worse in developing countries due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics and high rates of infections such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Phages are…
Kinetic characteristics of endolysins in human serum
Katarzyna Gembara1, Marek Harhala1, Wojciech Witkiewicz2, Krystyna Dąbrowska1
1Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw
2Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Research and Development Center
Endolysins are enzymes produced by bacteriophages which catalyse the hydrolysis of the peptidoglycan in the bacterial cell wall, bursting the cell at the end of the virulent cycle. These enzymes may play a key role in antibacterial therapy as a treatment option in the post-antibiotic era. Endolysins have been successfully tested as antimicrobial agents in animal models. Furthermore, endolysins have several advantages, such as stability in wide…
A potential therapeutic cocktail against antimicrobial resistant ESBL urinary clinical isolates of E.coli and Klebsiella
Melissa EK Haines, Francesca E Hodges, Martha RJ Clokie
Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, Maurice Shock Building, University of Leicester, UK
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is major global problem. This problem is compounded by a reduction in novel antibiotic discovery and rapid resistance emerging to existing and new antibiotics. A particular problematic group of bacteria are called the ESPAKEE organisms, which are together responsible for the majority of hospital-acquired infections (Gram-positive Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus…
More accurate and medically relevant evaluation of anti-Streptococcus pneumoniae endolysins Cpl-1 and Pal by using fluorescent assay
Marek Harhala1, Katarzyna Gembara1, Beata Brzezicka1, Daniel C. Nelson2, Krystyna Dąbrowska1
1Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, PAS, Wroclaw, Poland
2Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, MD, USA
Strongly bacteriolytic phage proteins called endolysins are one of raising alternatives for antibacterial treatments of, as named by WHO, ‘post antibiotic era’. Characteristic feature of endolysins is rapid clearance of bacteria in the matter of minutes in medically viable concentrations. Endolysins destroy PEG (peptydoglycan) – main component of the bacteria cell wall. Destruction of small amount of PEG leads to destruction of the bacteria…
Interaction of Phages and Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles: a Potential Tool for Selecting Host-Specific Phages
Mohammed Imam1, 2, Martha R J Clokie1, Edouard E Galyov1
1Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, Maurice Shock Building, Leicester, LE1 9HN, United Kingdom
2Department of Diagnostic Laboratories, Umm Al-Qura University Medical Centre, 3256-3234 Al Jamiah, Makkah 24243, Saudi Arabia
Bacteriophages show a great potential in many applications. Their abundance exceeds the bacterial population by ten times. However, the number of characterised phages does not reflect the phage abundance in the environment. Studies of phages and their characteristics require culturing the bacterial host allowing the phage to lyse the cells forming plaques on a bacterial lawn. However, the amount of isolated host-specific phages does not reflect the wide variety…
Loss of virulence in bacteriophage resistant Flavobacterium psychrophilum
Jóhanna Jørgensen1, Krister Sundell2, Daniel Castillo1, Liv S Dramshøj1, Natasja B Jørgensen1, Susie B Madsen1, Lotta Landor2, Valentina L Donati3, Lone Madsen3, Inger Dalsgaard3, Tom Wiklund2, Mathias Middelboe1
1Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Elsinore, Denmark
2Department of Biology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
3National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Members of Flavobacteria are among the most important pathogens in freshwater salmonid aquaculture worldwide. Due to concerns regarding development of antibiotic resistance, phage therapy has been proposed as a solution to increase fish health and decrease pathogen load. However, application of phages against Flavobacteria is challenged by the rapid development of phage resistance, and knowledge of the mechanisms and the genetic…
Diverse target specificities of anticodon nuclease types cohabitating Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains
Belal Khamaisi1, Ruba Zoabi1 and Gabriel Kaufmann1
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
The anticodon nuclease (ACNase) PrrC is activated by a phage-encoded DNA restriction inhibitor but countered by phage-induced tRNA repair. The related ACNase RloC is activated by phage-induced DNA breaks and inflicts a harsher damage, refractory to phage rebuttal. However, a phage-encoded tRNA decoy overwhelms RloC. We ask if RloC could bypass such resistance by altering its target specificity…
Developing bacteriophage-based antimicrobials for killing antimicrobial-resistant bacteria
Kotaro Kiga1, Xin-Ee Tan1, Víctor Rodrigo Ibarra Chávez2, José R Penadés2, Longzhu Cui1
1Division of Bacteriology, Department of Infection and Immunity, School of Medicine, Jichi Medical University, Shimotsuke, Japan
2Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK
Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are emerging worldwide, leading to a need for strategies for developing new antimicrobials. We developed a series of novel model antimicrobials, which we term bactericidal chimericphages, capable of selectively killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria. A bactericidal enzyme is introduced into bacteriophages, in such a way that the enzyme can only be functioned once recognizes the target gene. As proof of principle, we…
Temperate S. aureus phages adapt quickly to alternative chromosomal integration sites by modifying their own core attachment sites
Helena Leinweber, Hanne Ingmer
Section of Food Safety and Zoonoses, Institute of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) CC398 have been increasingly reported to cause infections in humans. So far mainly people with direct livestock contact were at risk, but more recently transfer of LA-MRSA between humans is observed. Closely associated with this animal to human host-jump are temperate bacteriophages of the Sa3Int-family…
Identification of the endolysin encoded by Deep-Blue phages infecting Bacillus weihenstephanensis
Audrey Leprince1, Louise Hock1, Annika Gillis1,2 and Jacques Mahillon1
1Laboratory of Food and Environmental Microbiology, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
2Imperial College, London, UK
Since several years, there is a renewed interest in phages and their derived proteins for various applications. Among the phage proteins, endolysins are peptidoglycan degrading enzymes synthetized at the end of the lytic cycle. In combination with holins, they are responsible for the lysis of the host cell allowing the release of newly synthetized virions. Endolysins from phages infecting Gram-positive bacteria are…
Bacteriophages as an alternative to antibiotics for use in the poultry industry
M.J. Loladze, T.G. Gabisonia, N.K.Chakhunashvili, M.M.Nadiradze, M.G. Alibegashvili, G.Tamarashvili, T.M.Katamadze, T.Kalandarishvili, T.Eliava
G. Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi, Georgia
Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella is dangerous for animal health with possible transmission from animals to humans. The bacteriophages may be a safe, effective alternative of antibiotics for the treatment and prevention of Salmonella colonization in poultry.The main goal of this work is to study the efficacy of Salmonella phage…
A computational method for detecting novel trans RNA-RNA interactions
Sabine Reisser1, Irmtraud M Meyer1,2
1Bioinformatics of RNA Structure and Transcriptome Regulation, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Hannoversche Str. 28, 10115 Berlin, Germany
2Freie Universität Berlin, Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry,Thielallee 63, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Many key mechanisms of gene regulation happen on transcriptome level. Examples include microRNA-mRNA interactions, RNA editing and RNA splicing. These crucially determine the functional products of any given cell. At the core of these interactions are trans RNA- RNA interactions, i.e. direct interactions between two RNA transcripts. Different interactions of this kind may happen at different times to determine the transcript’s fate in the cell…
Microscopy vs. NGS sequencing – comparison of methods to characterise virus-like particles in human large intestine
Paulina Miernikiewicz1, Aleksander Szymczak1, Zuzanna Kaźmierczak1, Stanisław Ferenc2, Jan Gnus2, Sylwia Nowak3, Joanna Majewska1, Marta Mazurkiewicz-Kania3, Wojciech Witkiewicz2, Krystyna Dabrowska1,2
1Bacteriophage Laboratory, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy PAS, Wroclaw, Poland
2Research and Development Center, Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Poland
3Laboratory of Microscopic Techniques, Faculty of Biological Sciences, The University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
The human intestinal virome is a viral component of the human intestinal microbiome, including viruses that infect eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. To characterise composition of the human virome, classical methods – mainly microscopy, or sequence‐based analyses of genomes present in a sample – can be used. Here we present results of two different approaches: transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Next Generation Sequencing…
The real deal: Tackling Salmonella infections with an optimised phage cocktail in pigs and chickens
Janet Y Nale1, Gurinder K. Vinner1, Viviana. I. C. Lopez1, Anisha M. Thanki1, Preeda Phothaworn2; Sunee Korbsrisate2, Edouard Galyov1, Danish Malik3, Martha R. J. Clokie1
1Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, UK
2Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand
3Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, UK
Salmonella spp. accounts for a third of the most common gastrointestinal infections in the UK; more than 2000 cases have been reported in England and Wales so far this year. S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium serovars are the most prevalent zoonotic serotypes infecting humans via contaminated pork and poultry sources. Current interventions rely on the use of antibiotics however, emerging antimicrobial resistance is a serious concern. A library of curated phages…
Prediction and expression the polysaccharide depolymerase gene of phage B1, effective against the K2 capsule serotype of Klebsiella pneumoniae
Botond Pertics1, Domonkos Sváby2, György Schneider1, István Tóth2
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Pécs, Medical School Hungary, H-7624, Szigeti út 12, Pécs, Hungary
2Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1143, Hungária krt. 21, Budapest, Hungary
Klebsiella pneumoniae is among the leading bacteria, causing nosocomial infections. The capsule of this Gram-negative bacterium is a dominant virulence factor, as it has a role in defence, and biofilm formation. This latter one negatively influence therapeutic efficacy and narrows the options of applicable antibiotics. Because of this, the use of alternative antimicrobial agents, targeting the capsule, is worth to consider. Bacteriophages…
The use of interferometric microscopy to quantify viral particles in complex samples such as fecal filtrates
Romain Sausset1,2, Matthieu Greffet2, Marie-Agnès Petit1, Marianne De Paepe1
1 INRA, UMR1319, Micalis, domaine de Vilvert, Jouy en Josas, France
2Myriade, 68 Bd de Port-Royal, 75005 Paris, France
It is now largely accepted that the intestinal microbiota plays a key role in Intestinal Bowel Diseases (IBD). An imbalance in the composition and diversity of the intestinal microbiota (i.e. dysbiosis) of patients has been repeatedly pointed out by several teams. There are also indications that phages, the viruses infecting bacteria, might play a role in this family of diseases. First, it was found that patients had higher loads of virus like particles in…
The human gut virome is highly diverse, stable and individual-specific
Andrey N. Shkoporov1, Adam G. Clooney1, Thomas D.S. Sutton1, Feargal J. Ryan1, Karen M. Daly1, James A. Nolan1, Siobhan A. McDonnell1, Ekaterina V. Khokhlova1, Lorraine A. Draper1, Amanda Forde1, Emma Guerin1, Vimalkumar Velayudhan1, R. Paul Ross1, Colin Hill1
APC Microbiome Ireland & School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork T12 YT20, Ireland
The human gut contains a vast array of viruses, mostly bacteriophages. The majority remain uncharacterised and their roles in shaping the gut microbiome and in impacting on human health remain poorly understood. Here we performed a longitudinal focused metagenomic study of faecal bacteriophage populations in healthy adults. Our results reveal high temporal stability and individual specificity of bacteriophage consortia which correlates with the bacterial microbiome. We report the existence of a stable, numerically predominant…
Investigation of efficacy and toxicity of Acinetobacter baumannii bacteriophages towards their hosts in biofilms, and human cells
Sophie E Smith1, Kathryn Styles1, Gabrielle Christie1, Elizabeth M. Wellington1, Andrew Millard2, Sutthirat Sitthisak3,4, and Antonia P Sagona1
1School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
2Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
3Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand
4Centre of Excellence in Medical Biotechnology, Faculty of Medical Science, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen, which is associated with nosocomial infections. It is frequently multi- drug resistant and can be resistant to all first line antibiotics. Finding an antibiotic which it is susceptible to can be difficult, causing delays to treatment which some patients cannot afford. This problem is particularly pronounced in Thailand, where it is the second most common…
Analysis of antibacterial activity of endolysin LysinT25, encoded by Lactobacillus paracasei bacteriophage FT25, against Gram-positive bacteria
Sirinthorn Sunthornthummas1, Katsumi Doi2, Yasuhiro Fujino2, Achariya Rangsiruji1 and Onanong Pringsulaka3
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand 10110
2Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Technology, Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan 812-8581
3Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand 10110
Endolysins are bacteriophage-encoded lytic enzymes that are able to cleave the peptidoglycan of the bacterial cell wall at the end of the infection cycle. Due to their narrow target specificity and low probability of developing bacterial resistance, the endolysins are considered to be alternative antimicrobials for treatment of bacterial infections. In this study, an endolysin gene encoded for LysinT25…
Characterisation of a new viable P2-like bacteriophage infecting a range of Enterobacteria
Domonkos Sváb,1 Balázs Horváth,2 Manfred Rohde,3 Gergely Maróti,4 István Tóth1
1Institute for Veterinary Medical Research, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
2Seqomics Ltd, Mórahalom, Hungary
3Central Facility for Microscopy, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, HZI, Braunschweig, Germany
4Symbosis and Functional Genomics Unit, Institute for Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary
P2-like bacteriophages (Peduoviruses) are a genetically conserved genus of Myoviridae capable of infecting members of the bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae, which contain numerous prophages of P2-like origin. Here we report the pheno- and genotypic characterisation of R18C, a viable P2-like phage originating from rabbit intestine. R18C was isolated on Escherichia coli K-12 derivative strain MG1655. Besides this propagating strain, R18C effectively lysed Citrobacter rodentium strain ICC169, two Shigella sonnei…
Comparison of human stomach microbiome and virome fractions
Aleksander Szymczak1, Stanisław Ferenc2, Paulina Miernikiewicz1, Joanna Majewska1, Jan Gnus3, Wojciech Witkiewicz2, Krystyna Dąbrowska1
1Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw
2Regional Specialist Hospital, Wroclaw, Research and Development Center
3Wroclaw Medical University
Human microbiome consists of bacteria, fungi and viruses. Notwithstanding humans are eukaryotic organisms, population of prokaryotic cells in human intestine tract lead to significant abundance of specific part of viruses – phages. Isolation of all bacteria viruses on agar plates is impossible. Next-Generation Sequencing methods allows to generate tons of data and identify simultaneously bacteria and viruses that would not be discovered…
