{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T00:38:45Z","timestamp":1789087125554,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]],"date-time":"2026-04-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776816000000},"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. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The emergence of drug-resistant porcine enterotoxigenic\n                    <jats:italic>Escherichia coli<\/jats:italic>\n                    (ETEC) necessitates the exploration of alternative antibacterial approaches. Two lytic bacteriophages, PES-1 and PES-2, have been isolated and characterized to control ETEC. PES-1 exhibited a wide host range, lysing five ETEC strains, whereas PES-2 displayed restricted specificity, impacting only one of the seven strains. Both phages demonstrated optimal stability at a pH of 4.0\u20137.0 and a temperature of 4\u202f\u00b0C\u201337\u202f\u00b0C. Comparative genomic characterization revealed that the bacteriophages PES-1 have a 40.3\u202fkb size and 48.29% GC contents, while the PES-2 have 67.8\u202fkb size and 46.12% GC Contents, both of which possess a double-stranded linear DNA genomes, lacking tRNA genes, lysogeny-related elements, virulence factors, and antibiotic-resistant factors, emphasizing their obligately lytic lifestyle and genomic biosafety. Genomic analysis revealed that PES-1 exhibited sensitivity to EcoR-I and Hind-III. PES-2 demonstrated resistance to all tested restriction enzymes. Combining bacteriophages with antibiotics such as amoxicillin and neomycin significantly enhanced antibacterial efficacy (\n                    <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    &amp;lt;\u202f0.05). A notable synergy was observed with amoxicillin, resulting in a decrease in bacterial loads by 2.02\u20133.47 log units compared to amoxicillin alone. This synergy likely arises from dual selective pressure and improved antibiotic penetration after phage-mediated lysis. However, no significant difference was observed in the gentamycin-phage combination group compared to the phage cocktail group. The results indicate that PES-1 and PES-2 show environmental stability and effectiveness as biocontrol agents for ETEC. This research introduces an innovative method for developing bacteriophage-based solutions applicable to veterinary and food safety contexts.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1713167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]],"date-time":"2026-04-22T05:50:37Z","timestamp":1776837037000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Characterization and phage-antibiotic synergy of bacteriophages PES-1 and PES-2 against porcine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Tingfang","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiansong","family":"You","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"R&D Center, Aim Honesty Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd.","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fazal Mehmood","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Science and General Studies, Alfaisal University","place":["Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianguang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Liaoning Agricultural Vocational and Technical College","place":["Yingkou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanfen","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Liaoning Agricultural Vocational and Technical College","place":["Yingkou, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyu","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongping","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lili","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology","place":["Dalian, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0151521","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.01515-21","article-title":"Engineering a lysin with intrinsic antibacterial activity (LysMK34) by cecropin a fusion enhances its antibacterial properties against Acinetobacter baumannii","volume":"88","author":"Abdelkader","year":"2022","journal-title":"Appl. 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