Targeted deletion of Pf prophages from diverse isolates impacts quorum sensing and virulence traits.

is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that commonly causes medical hardware, wound, and respiratory infections. Temperate filamentous Pf phages that infect impact numerous bacterial virulence phenotypes. Most work on Pf phages has focused on strain Pf4 and its host PAO1. Expanding from Pf4 and PAO1, this study explores diverse Pf strains infecting clinical isolates. We describe a simple technique targeting the Pf lysogeny maintenance gene, (), that enables the effective elimination of Pf prophages from diverse hosts. This study also assesses the effects different Pf phages have on host quorum sensing, biofilm formation, virulence factor production, and virulence. Collectively, this research not only introduces a valuable tool for Pf prophage elimination from diverse isolates, but also advances our understanding of the complex relationship between and filamentous Pf phages.