{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T05:54:08Z","timestamp":1781589248877,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol."],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n \n The emergence of shigellosis caused by\n Shigella<\/jats:italic>\n spp. poses a significant threat to global health, and the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains necessitates the development of effective antimicrobial therapies. Bacteriophages present a promising approach for both prevention and treatment of MDR infections.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n \n Ten lytic bacteriophages targeting\n Shigella flexneri<\/jats:italic>\n 2457T were isolated from wastewater using the double-layer agar method. Phage morphology, lytic activity spectrum, latent period, burst size, bacterial killing efficiency, and efficacy under ex vivo microbiota conditions were evaluated. Transmission electron microscopy, one-step growth assays, bacterial killing assays, anaerobic fecal slurry co-culture experiments, and whole-genome sequencing of the representative phage PSW32 were performed.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Transmission electron microscopy revealed that these phages possessed icosahedral heads and contractile tails, consistent with myovirus-like morphology commonly observed among tailed bacteriophages within the class\n Caudoviricetes<\/jats:italic>\n . Most phages exhibited broad lytic activity against\n S. flexneri, S.\u00a0sonnei<\/jats:italic>\n , and\n S. dysenteriae<\/jats:italic>\n , with limited activity against\n S. boydii<\/jats:italic>\n in spot assay. Among them, phages PSW32, PSW37, PSW38, and PSW40 exhibited lytic activity against the largest number of tested\n Shigella<\/jats:italic>\n strains under the spot assay conditions. One-step growth assays revealed latent periods of 30-70 minutes and burst sizes of 40-267 PFU\/cell, indicating efficient host infection activity. At multiplicities of infection (MOIs) ranging from 10 to 0.001, all phages efficiently suppressed the growth of\n S. flexneri<\/jats:italic>\n . Based on their lytic kinetics and host range, PSW32 and PSW40 were further evaluated in an ex vivo microbiota model using anaerobic fecal slurry co-cultures. PSW32 reduced CFUs by 88% at 2 h and decreased bacterial levels to below the limit of detection (LOD) by 3 h. PSW40 reduced CFUs by 69% at 2 h and reduced bacterial levels to below the limit of detection (LOD) by 3 h. Genomic analysis of PSW32 identified a T4-like lytic architecture with no detectable genes linked to antimicrobial resistance or virulence, supporting its potential applicability for further evaluation.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Discussion<\/jats:title>\n \n These newly isolated lytic phages exhibited rapid bacterial activity under both\n in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n and\n ex vivo<\/jats:italic>\n microbiota-associated conditions and broad lytic activity against multiple\n Shigella<\/jats:italic>\n species, Collectively, the findings support their potential for further investigation as phage-based strategies for controlling\n Shigella<\/jats:italic>\n infections and contamination.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcimb.2026.1837303","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T05:38:43Z","timestamp":1781588323000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Isolation and characterization of lytic Shigella bacteriophages with rapid in vitro and ex vivo bactericidal activity"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Nida","family":"Shaheen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University","place":["Athens, OH, United States"]},{"name":"Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute, Ohio University","place":["Athens, OH, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maranda","family":"Stricklin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic and State University","place":["Blacksburg, VA, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Kordesch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University","place":["Athens, OH, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shaohua","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University","place":["Athens, OH, United States"]},{"name":"Infectious and Tropical Disease Institute, Ohio University","place":["Athens, OH, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1007\/s00705-006-0849-1","article-title":"5500 phages examined in the electron microscope","volume":"152","author":"Ackermann","year":"2007","journal-title":"Arch. 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