Project Details
Projekt
Inhibition of phage infection by secondary metabolites produced by actinobacterial species
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Julia Frunzke
Subject Area
Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 464434020
Members of the actinobacterial genus Streptomyces are prolific producers of natural products with a wide range of biological activities. This repertoire of bioactive molecules has been harnessed for medical and agricultural purposes, as for example ⅔ of known antibiotics of microbial origin are produced by Streptomyces. However, a potential role in defense against viral infection has only been recognized recently. How phage infection actually alters the antibiotic profile of the host and how this reaction may add to the protection against viral predation at the multicellular level has not been addressed yet. In preliminary experiments, we have isolated and characterized more than 15 novel phages infecting different Streptomyces strains. Interestingly, we observed intensive production of secondary metabolites at the infection zone in plaques formed by Streptomyces coelicolor phages. Furthermore, preliminary data revealed that different aminoglycoside antibiotics efficiently protect Streptomyces species from phage predation. The proposed project will focus on two main objectives. Objective I will address the impact of phage infection on the antibiotic profiles of Streptomyces strains and their potential role in chemical defense strategies. Objective II will specifically investigate the antiviral ‘mode of action’ of aminoglycoside antibiotics. Overall, there is a high potential for synergy between WPs of the different objectives as well as with further projects within the SPP. Experiments will cover intensive screenings as well as molecular/mechanistic approaches addressing the question which stage in phage infection is affected by the particular molecules.Overall, experiments planned in the proposed project will provide important insights into the chemical defense of Streptomyces to phage infection and have the potential to discover new concepts in antiviral defense at the multicellular level.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
