The Bermuda buckeye, Junonia coenia bergi, is the only butterfly endemic to Bermuda, but is largely unstudied. Whole-genome Illumina sequencing was used to obtain a complete circular mitochondrial genome sequence of 15,221 bp consisting of 22 tRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs and a control region. Mitogenome structure and organization was found to be very similar to that of other Junonia butterfly mitogenomes. Excluding ambiguous nucleotides, the J. coenia bergi mitogenome is 99.1% identical to the J. coenia coenia mitogenome. Parsimony and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic reconstruction revealed the monophyly of subfamily Nymphalinae, genus Junonia, and species J. coenia.
We describe the first use of phage therapy in Canada for the treatment of a life-threatening periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), with successful outcome. PJI is a devastating complication of joint replacement surgery, with high morbidity and mortality. Our patient presented with early sepsis from a chronic recalcitrant multidrug-resistant (MDR) Staphylococcus epidermidis hip PJI which had repeatedly failed standard therapy. She had previously undergone 10 operations of the right hip, and only three weeks after completing a prolonged course of daptomycin following her most recent hip revision, she developed a draining sinus tract. Given the high burden of disease, inability to achieve surgical source control, and lack of antibiotic treatment options for long-term suppressive therapy, bacteriophage (phage) therapy was pursued. The patient underwent irrigation and debridement with complex flap reconstruction: intraoperative tissue cultures again yielded MDR S. epidermidis. We developed a novel phage therapy protocol for this patient, with twice daily, intra-articular and intravenous (7 × 109 PFU/dose) phage delivery over a planned 14-day course. Complete healing of the wound with cessation of drainage occurred within one month after treatment. A marked improvement in right hip pain and mobility occurred within three months after treatment. Twelve months following phage treatment, there is normalization of serum inflammatory markers with diminished pain, increased mobility, and no recurrent surgery. Our patient continues to improve and is currently living independently at home, with sustained clinical control of infection.