Harnessing the Diversity of spp. Prophages for Therapeutic Potential.

spp. are often resistant to antibiotics, and infections with these organisms are difficult to treat. A potential alternative treatment for spp. infections is bacteriophage (phage) therapy; however, it can be difficult to locate phages that target these bacteria. Prophages incorporated into the bacterial genome have been identified within spp. and may represent a source of useful phages for therapy. Here, we investigate whether prophages within spp. clinical isolates can kill conspecific and heterospecific isolates. Thirty-two spp. isolates were induced for prophage release, and harvested phages were tested for lytic activity against the same 32 isolates. Temperate phages were passaged and their host ranges were determined, resulting in four unique phages of prophage origin that showed different ranges of lytic activity. We also analyzed the prophage content of 35 spp. clinical isolate genomes and identified several prophages present in the genomes of multiple isolates of the same species. Finally, we observed that isolates were more phage-susceptible than isolates. Overall, our findings suggest that prophages present within spp. genomes are a potentially useful starting point for the isolation and development of novel phages for use in phage therapy.