Xu Juan, Jiang Feng-Lei, Liu Yi, Kiesel Bärbel, Maskow Thomas
State Key Laboratory of Virology College of Chemistry and Molecule Sciences Wuhan University Wuhan P.R. China.
Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Biology and Medicine (Ministry of Education) College of Chemistry and Molecule Sciences Wuhan University Wuhan P.R. China.
Eng Life Sci. 2018 Jun 1;18(7):475-483. doi: 10.1002/elsc.201800026. eCollection 2018 Jul.
Viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) can either lyse bacteria directly or integrate their genome into the bacterial genome. In the latter case, the viral genome (called prophage) remains dormant, and both phages and bacteria are able to survive in this state. But the silent prophages can be reactivated by, e.g., chemicals, accompanied by the release of substantial quantities of phage particles that further infect other phage-sensitive bacteria, thus harming ecosystems or technical systems by way of a viral bloom. Recently, a calorimetric method was developed to monitor the prophage-activating properties of chemicals. The method evaluates the difference in the metabolic heat of the bioindicator with (λ+) and without (λ-) lambda prophages under the influence of the test substances. Simulations and experiments clearly demonstrate that the sensitivity of the test can be significantly improved, when a customized mixture of λ+ and λ- strains is used for enhanced bioindication. Hence the new method mirrors a common situation in nature, where bacteria with and without prophages coexist. In summary, a monitoring method is suggested that provides quick results (after few hours) and offers both the option for automation with low workload (requires only a few minutes) and usage of commercially available instruments.
感染细菌的病毒（噬菌体）既可以直接裂解细菌，也可以将其基因组整合到细菌基因组中。在后一种情况下，病毒基因组（称为前噬菌体）保持休眠状态，噬菌体和细菌都能在这种状态下存活。但是沉默的前噬菌体可以被例如化学物质重新激活，同时释放大量噬菌体颗粒，这些颗粒会进一步感染其他对噬菌体敏感的细菌，从而通过病毒爆发损害生态系统或技术系统。最近，一种量热法被开发出来用于监测化学物质的前噬菌体激活特性。该方法评估在测试物质影响下，带有（λ+）和不带有（λ-）λ前噬菌体的生物指示剂代谢热的差异。模拟和实验清楚地表明，当使用定制的λ+和λ-菌株混合物来增强生物指示时，测试的灵敏度可以显著提高。因此，新方法反映了自然界中一种常见的情况，即带有和不带有前噬菌体的细菌共存。总之，建议采用一种监测方法，该方法能快速得出结果（几小时后），提供自动化选项且工作量低（仅需几分钟），并可使用市售仪器。
