Engineered probiotic Escherichia coli can eliminate and prevent Pseudomonas aeruginosa gut infection in animal models

TLDR

Bacteria can be genetically engineered to kill specific pathogens or inhibit their virulence, and we previously developed a synthetic system that enables a laboratory strain of *Escherichia coli* to sense and kill *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* in vitro. The study aims to create a modified anti‑biofilm system in the probiotic strain *E. coli* Nissle 1917. The engineered probiotic expresses an anti‑biofilm enzyme while retaining the pathogen‑sensing kill system.

Abstract

Abstract Bacteria can be genetically engineered to kill specific pathogens or inhibit their virulence. We previously developed a synthetic genetic system that allows a laboratory strain of Escherichia coli to sense and kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro . Here, we generate a modified version of the system, including a gene encoding an anti-biofilm enzyme, and use the probiotic strain Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as host. The engineered probiotic shows in vivo prophylactic and therapeutic activity against P. aeruginosa during gut infection in two animal models ( Caenorhabditis elegans and mice). These findings support the further development of engineered microorganisms with potential prophylactic and therapeutic activities against gut infections.