Bioinformatic Analysis of Staphylococcus Phages: A Key Step for Safe Cocktail Development.

An in-depth analysis of phage genomic sequences is essential for the proposal of a cocktail for therapeutic uses. With the burst of publications on phage isolation and genetic studies during the last decade, several different bioinformatics programs have been used. Here we describe our studies on the genetic organization of phages infecting Staphylococcus aureus, a pathogen of human importance, by using an assembly of tools for gene annotation, identification of expression components, and phylogeny analysis.

Bioinformatic Analysis of a Set of 14 Temperate Bacteriophages Isolated from Staphylococcus aureus Strains Highlights Their Massive Genetic Diversity.

Epidemiology and virulence studies of Staphylococcus aureus showed that temperate bacteriophages are one of the most powerful drivers for its evolution not only because of their abundance but also because of the richness of their genetic payload. Here, we report the isolation, genome sequencing, and bioinformatic analysis of 14 bacteriophages induced from lysogenic S. aureus strains from human or veterinary (cattle) origin.