{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T11:58:51Z","timestamp":1770465531912,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]],"date-time":"2023-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1682380800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Bacteroides fragilis is a commensal gut bacterium that is associated with a number of blood and tissue infections. It has not yet been recognized as one of the drug-resistant human pathogens, but cases of the refractory infections, caused by strains that are not susceptible to the common antibiotic regimes established for B. fragilis, have been more frequently reported. Bacteriophages (phages) were found to be a successful antibacterial alternative to antibiotic therapy in many cases of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. We have characterized the bacteriophage GEC_vB_Bfr_UZM3 (UZM3), which was used for the treatment of a patient with a chronic osteomyelitis caused by a B. fragilis mixed infection. Studied biological and morphological properties of UZM3 showed that it seems to represent a strictly lytic phage belonging to a siphovirus morphotype. It is characterized by high stability at body temperature and in pH environments for about 6 h. Whole genome sequencing analysis of the phage UZM3 showed that it does not harbor any known virulence genes and can be considered as a potential therapeutic phage to be used against B. fragilis infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v15051042","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]],"date-time":"2023-04-25T01:37:01Z","timestamp":1682386621000},"page":"1042","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Characterization of a Bacteriophage GEC_vB_Bfr_UZM3 Active against Bacteroides fragilis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4218-383X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nata","family":"Bakuradze","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"},{"name":"Department of Biology, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi 0179, Georgia"},{"name":"AIETI Medical School, Davit Tvildiani Medical University, Tbilisi 0159, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2566-0772","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maia","family":"Merabishvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, 1120 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4524-436X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ia","family":"Kusradze","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of General Microbiology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, European University, Tbilisi 0141, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7735-8316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pieter-Jan","family":"Ceyssens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of Human Bacterial Diseases, Sciensano, 1180 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5096-5789","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jolien","family":"Onsea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4114-9093","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Willem-Jan","family":"Metsemakers","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Trauma Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"},{"name":"Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nino","family":"Grdzelishvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"},{"name":"Faculty of Natural Science and Medicine, Ilia State University, Tbilisi 0162, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7859-3032","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guliko","family":"Natroshvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tamar","family":"Tatrishvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"},{"name":"Faculty of Natural Science and Medicine, Ilia State University, Tbilisi 0162, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davit","family":"Lazvliashvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"},{"name":"Faculty of Natural Science and Medicine, Ilia State University, Tbilisi 0162, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nunu","family":"Mitskevich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi 0179, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6863-5219","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean-Paul","family":"Pirnay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Technology, Queen Astrid Military Hospital, 1120 Brussels, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nina","family":"Chanishvili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbial Biotechnology, Eliava Institute of Bacteriophages, Microbiology and Virology, Tbilisi 0160, Georgia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-394438-2.00001-3","article-title":"Phage therapy\u2013history from Twort and d\u2019Herelle through Soviet experience to current 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