AUTHOR=Wang Shuang , Yin Bo , Yu Ling , Dang Mei , Guo Zhimin , Yan Guangmou , Hu Dongliang , Gu Jingmin , Du Chongtao , Feng Xin , Han Wenyu , Adam Yuren Yuan , Sun Changjiang , Bossé Janine T. , Lei Liancheng 

TITLE=Overexpression of AmpC Promotes Bacteriophage Lysis of Ampicillin-Resistant Escherichia coli

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2019

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02973

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2019.02973

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) are a threat to human and animal health globally. Phage therapy has made a great progress in the treatment of drug-resistant infections, but it is still unclear whether E. coli resistance against antibiotics could change the lysis ability of phages. We demonstrate that AmpC, an important β-lactamase for ampicillin resistance, promotes bacteriophage lysing host E. coli. E. coli having higher expression of AmpC also showed higher level of OmpA production, which is localized on outer membrane of E. coli and served as a receptor for T-even phages, resulting in an increased phage adsorption rate and essentially increased sensitivity of E. coli to phage. These data demonstrate that increased ampicillin resistance can increase the sensitivity of E. coli to lytic phage to some extent, which provides evidence for the feasibility of synergistic application of phage and antibiotics.