Characterising temperate bacteriophage induced from Burkholderia Cepacia Complex isolates, originating from the lungs of Cystic Fibrosis patients

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive disorder in the UK, currently affecting over 10,000 people. The causative mutation in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator gene alters the chloride channel, giving rise to a thick mucus layer. Through continuing inflammatory responses at the epithelial surface, scar tissue decreases the mucocilliary movement, negating clearance of mucus from the lung. This mucus provides a nutrient rich environment ideal for opportunistic bacteria such as Burkholderia Cepacia Complex (BCC) to colonise. Burkholderia sp. comprises of 17 sub species of which 5 are commonly found in the lungs of CF patients. BCC is more problematic than Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), the most common bacteria found in the lungs of CF patients, due to increased antimicrobial resistance. Temperate bacteriophages are viruses that infect and subvert their bacterial hosts through integration into the bacterial chromosome (prophage) and adapt alongside their host. We elucidate that there are less inducible bacteriophages present in this bacterial background when compared to PA from the CF lung. This study presents the induction of temperate phages from 47 CF, BCC isolates comparing (i) cross infection data (ii) incidence (iii) genome comparison and (iv) these data prescriptively modeled against clinical and microbiological data.