{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T16:31:20Z","timestamp":1785429080073,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783036800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Milgrom Family Support Program","award":["3015005777"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["3015005777"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003977","name":"Israel Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ISF1349\/20"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ISF1349\/20"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003977","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["ISF1349\/20"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ISF1349\/20"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04sazxf24","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000833","name":"Rosetrees Trust","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["A2232"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["A2232"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000833","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["A2232"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["A2232"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04e3zg361","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Cutibacterium avidum is an emerging opportunistic pathogen responsible for device-associated infections, including prosthetic joint and breast implant infections. Unlike its relative C. acnes, for which phage therapy has been explored, C. avidum infections are recalcitrant to antibiotics, and no infecting bacteriophages have been described to date. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of \u03a6CA1NRNZ, to the best of our knowledge, the first lytic phage described against C. avidum. Methods: \u03a6CA1NRNZ was obtained from wastewater sampling at the Sorek Treatment Facility in Jerusalem. Wastewater metagenomics, transmission electron microscopy, genome sequencing, host-range testing, efficiency of plating (EOP), aerobic and anaerobic lysis assays, and antibiofilm assays against mature C. avidum biofilms were performed. Results: Metagenomic analysis indicated low and transient detection of C. avidum-classified reads in wastewater. \u03a6CA1NRNZ was identified as a long-tailed Caudoviricetes with a ~320 nm virion. Its 33,712 bp dsDNA genome (GenBank PV441878.1) encodes 46 predicted proteins, shares 76.5% nucleotide identity with C. acnes phage \u03a6FD1, and contains divergent tail-fiber and host-recognition genes. No known bacterial virulence, toxin, human pathogenicity-associated, or antibiotic-resistance genes were identified. \u03a6CA1NRNZ lysed all 11 clinical C. avidum isolates tested under aerobic and anaerobic conditions, with EOP values of 0.11\u20135.55, mean 1.87, and showed no lytic activity against 25 C. acnes isolates. Against mature biofilms, \u03a6CA1NRNZ reduced total biomass by 28.4% (p = 0.014), reduced viable cell counts by approximately two logs, and increased extracellular ATP release (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusions: The strict species specificity and significant in vitro antibiofilm activity of \u03a6CA1NRNZ support its potential for phage therapy of device-associated C. avidum infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics15070659","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]],"date-time":"2026-07-03T09:34:11Z","timestamp":1783071251000},"page":"659","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Isolation and Characterization of \u03a6CA1NRNZ, a Lytic Bacteriophage Targeting the Emerging Device-Associated Pathogen Cutibacterium avidum"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7792-7355","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ron","family":"Braunstein","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR), Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"The Israeli Phage Center (IPTC) of the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1749-4786","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amit","family":"Rimon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR), Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"The Israeli Phage Center (IPTC) of the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"Tzameret, The Military Track of Medicine, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roni","family":"Teitelbaum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR), Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Hadassah Medical Center, The Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suhnit","family":"Coppenhagen-Glazer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR), Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"The Israeli Phage Center (IPTC) of the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5346-611X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vered","family":"Molho-Pessach","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Hadassah Medical Center, The Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9967-730X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ronen","family":"Hazan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research (IBOR), Faculty of Dental Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"},{"name":"The Israeli Phage Center (IPTC) of the Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112000, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e00064-17","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00064-17","article-title":"Clinical and Biological Features of Cutibacterium (Formerly Propionibacterium) avidum, an Underrecognized Microorganism","volume":"31","author":"Corvec","year":"2018","journal-title":"Clin. 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