Novel Acinetobacter baumannii Bacteriophage Aristophanes Encoding Structural Polysaccharide Deacetylase

Abstract

<i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> appears to be one of the most crucial nosocomial pathogens. A possible component of antimicrobial therapy for infections caused by extremely drug-resistant <i>A. baumannii</i> strains may be specific lytic bacteriophages or phage-derived enzymes. In the present study, we observe the biological features, genomic organization, and phage-host interaction strategy of novel virulent bacteriophage Aristophanes isolated on <i>A. baumannii</i> strain having K26 capsular polysaccharide structure. According to phylogenetic analysis phage Aristophanes can be classified as a representative of a new distinct genus of the subfamily <i>Beijerinckvirinae</i> of the family <i>Autographiviridae</i>. This is the first reported <i>A. baumannii</i> phage carrying tailspike deacetylase, which caused O-acetylation of one of the K26 sugar residues.