Clinical Enterobacter spp. isolates and Enterobacter-targeting bacteriophages

Enterobacter spp. are opportunistic pathogens that cause nosocomial infections. Bacteriophages could be used to treat antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter infections. We used genetically diverse clinical Enterobacter spp. isolates to identify lytic bacteriophages in hospital and municipal wastewater. Comparative genomics was performed on host bacterial isolates and isolated phages. Activity of each phage against all host isolates was determined. We also tested phage activity against paired isolates from two patients that developed ceftazidime-avibactam resistance. Bacteria belonged to three Enterobacter species and Klebsiella aerogenes. We isolated 12 bacteriophages, most of which belonged to the Myoviridae and Autographiviridae families. All phages were able to lyse multiple bacterial isolates, and many lysed isolates of different species. Ceftazidime-avibactam-resistant isolates were still phage-susceptible, and one isolate showed increased susceptibility compared to the parent isolate. The phages we isolated expand the diversity of Enterobacter-targeting phages, and could be useful for treating antibiotic-resistant Enterobacter infections.