Phages choreograph deadly attack on superbugs

Press/Media: Research

Description

A study led by BDI scientists illuminating how phages can kill deadly bacterial superbugs has appeared in International Business Times and ScienceDaily. Associate Professor Fasséli Coulibaly and Professor Trevor Lithgow were senior authors on the study, published in Nature Communications. It used high-resolution imaging to show how the viruses attacked and killed Salmonella Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid. This occurred in an incredible ‘choreography’ as the phages assembled the main components of their particles: a head filled with the viral DNA and a tail used to infect the bacteria. The study gave scientists a new understanding of how phages can be used in the ongoing fight against antimicrobial resistance. The paper was a collaboration between the BDI, the Monash University Centre to Impact AMR and University of Cambridge.

Period28 Jul 2020

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitlePeering into the secrets of phages to see how they kill bacterial superbugs
    Degree of recognitionLocal
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryAustralia
    Date28/07/20
    DescriptionA research collaboration involving Monash University has made an exciting discovery that may eventually lead to targeted treatments to combat drug-resistant bacterial infections, one of the greatest threats to global health.

    The study, led by Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute’s Associate Professor Fasséli Coulibaly and Professor Trevor Lithgow is published in Nature Communications. It outlines the use of high-resolution imaging to uncover how viruses known as phages can attack and kill Salmonella Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid, providing scientists with a new understanding of how they can be used in the ongoing fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
    URLhttps://www.monash.edu/discovery-institute/news-and-events/news/2020-articles/peering-into-the-secrets-of-phages-to-see-how-they-kill-bacterial-superbugs
    PersonsTrevor Lithgow, Fasseli Coulibaly
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