Nagaia Ciacci

Nagaia Ciacci


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

9Years (2018-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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9 September 2018 in Viruses
Verified
Journal Article
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NCNagaia Ciacci
Nagaia Ciacci
Marco Maria D'AndreaMarco Maria D'Andrea
Marco Maria D'Andrea
PASQUALE MARMOPASQUALE MARMO
PASQUALE MARMO
EDElisa Demattè
Elisa Demattè
FAFrancesco Amisano
Francesco Amisano
MTMaria Cristina Thaller
Maria Cristina Thaller
Resistance to carbapenems in Enterobacteriaceae, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, represents a major clinical problem given the lack of effective alternative antibiotics. Bacteriophages could provide a valuable tool to control the dissemination of antibiotic resistant isolates, for the decolonization of colonized individuals and for treatment purposes. In this work, we have characterized a lytic bacteriophage, named vB_Kpn_F48, specific for K. pneumoniae isolates belonging to clonal group 101. Phage vB_Kpn_F48 was classified as a member of Myoviridae, order Caudovirales, on the basis of transmission electron microscopy analysis. Physiological characterization demonstrated that vB_Kpn_F48 showed a narrow host range, a short latent period, a low burst size and it is highly stable to both temperature and pH variations. High throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis revealed that the phage is characterized by a 171 Kb dsDNA genome that lacks genes undesirable for a therapeutic perspective such integrases, antibiotic resistance genes and toxin encoding genes. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that vB_Kpn_F48 is a T4-like bacteriophage which belongs to a novel genus within the Tevenvirinae subfamily, which we tentatively named “F48virus”. Considering the narrow host range, the genomic features and overall physiological parameters phage vB_Kpn_F48 could be a promising candidate to be used alone or in cocktails for phage therapy applications.