Mitigation of
Biofilm Produced by E. coli Clinical Strain using Coliphage - ASEC2201
Padmesh Sudhaker, Saeed Humaira, Singh Aditi, Sen Manodeep and Singh Sujeet Pratap
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 20(12); 23-30;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/2012rjbt023030; (2025)
Abstract
Biofilm-producing multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli)
pose severe health and economic challenges. Bacteriophage or phage therapy offers
a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. This study evaluated the anti-biofilm
activity of a novel coliphage - ASEC2201, which is isolated in our lab from sewage
water. We observed that the phage exhibited a latent period of 30 minutes and a
burst size of 615 PFU/cell, indicating its high efficiency in lysing bacterial cells.
The coliphage ASEC2201 reduced E. coli population by approximately 3 logs within
10 hours of incubation. It showed specific lytic activity against biofilm-producing
MDR E. coli strains. The titration data demonstrates the importance of timing and
treatment in biofilm mitigation. Higher reductions of more than 31.82% at mid stage
were observed at 54 hours. Mature biofilms reductions of 18.42% and 17.50% via phage
titrations of 101 and 102 showed that mature biofilms, while more resistant, can
still be mitigated with optimized concentrations.
The present study indicates that ASEC2201 can be applied independently or in combination
with antibiotics to enhance its efficacy. However, further in-depth and in vivo
studies are necessary to fully explore the therapeutic potential of coliphage ASEC2201
and to ensure its safety and efficacy in real-world applications.
