Escherichia coli O157:H7 str. EDL933 Genome sequencing and assembly. Escherichia coli O157:H7 str. EDL933

Hemolytic-uremic syndrome is a life-threating disease most often associated with Shiga toxin-producing microorganisms such as Escherichia coli (STEC), including E. coli O157:H7. Shiga toxin is encoded by resident prophages present within this bacterium, and its production and release both depend on induction of Shiga toxin-encoding prophages. Consequently, treatment of STEC infections tend to be largely supportive rather than antibacterial, in part due to concerns with exacerbating such prophage induction. Here we explore STEC O157:H7 prophage induction in vitro as it pertains to phage therapy – the application of bacteriophages as antibacterial agents to treat bacterial infections – to curtail prophage induction events, while also reducing STEC O157:H7 numbers. We observed that cultures treated with strictly lytic phages, despite being lysed, produce substantially fewer Shiga toxin-encoding temperate-phage virions than untreated controls. We suggest therefore that phage therapy could have utility as a prophylactic treatment of individuals suspected of having been recently exposed to STEC, if prophage induction, and by extension Shiga toxin production, is not exacerbated.