Bacteriophage and Antibiotic Resistance Are Positively Associated across a Phylogenetically Diverse Set of Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates
- 1Stanford University
Abstract
Co-administration of phages and antibiotics has been proposed as a therapeutic approach against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The relationship, however, between antibiotic resistance and phage resistance in clinical isolates is unclear. Here, we examine associations between phage and antibiotic resistance profiles across a panel of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antimicrobial Resistance Isolate (ARI) Bank comprising 55 clinical strains with full genome sequences and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) data for 11 clinically relevant antibiotics. As phages in this study, we use three well-characterized, morphologically distinct phages, OMKO1, Luz19, and PAML31-1. We screen for phage resistance using a growth suppression assay, then conduct statistical analysis against antibiotic MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) data provided by the CDC to define association patterns across this dataset. We find multiple significant susceptibility correlations between pairs of antibiotics and phages, and a positive overall association between average phage resistance and antibiotic resistance across the 55 strains, even controlling for phylogenetic associations (=0.358, p<0.005). We conclude that phage and antibiotic resistance are positively associated across this clinical isolate collection, suggesting that the two resistance phenotypes are not independent in P. aeruginosa. These findings have implications for the development of phage-antibiotic cocktails.
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BibTeX
@misc{rodden2026bacteriophage,
title = {{Bacteriophage and Antibiotic Resistance Are Positively Associated across a Phylogenetically Diverse Set of Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates}},
author = {A. L. Rodden and R. W. Targ and Z. N. Flamholz and P. L. Bollyky and J. C. Sacher},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.27.754834},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.27.754834v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Bacteriophage and Antibiotic Resistance Are Positively Associated across a Phylogenetically Diverse Set of Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates
AU - A. L. Rodden
AU - R. W. Targ
AU - Z. N. Flamholz
AU - P. L. Bollyky
AU - J. C. Sacher
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/27
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.27.754834
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.27.754834v1
AB - Co-administration of phages and antibiotics has been proposed as a therapeutic approach against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The relationship, however, between antibiotic resistance and phage resistance in clinical isolates is unclear. Here, we examine associations between phage and antibiotic resistance profiles across a panel of Pseudomonas aeruginosa clinical isolates from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antimicrobial Resistance Isolate (ARI) Bank comprising 55 clinical strains with full genome sequences and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) data for 11 clinically relevant antibiotics. As phages in this study, we use three well-characterized, morphologically distinct phages, OMKO1, Luz19, and PAML31-1. We screen for phage resistance using a growth suppression assay, then conduct statistical analysis against antibiotic MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) data provided by the CDC to define association patterns across this dataset. We find multiple significant susceptibility correlations between pairs of antibiotics and phages, and a positive overall association between average phage resistance and antibiotic resistance across the 55 strains, even controlling for phylogenetic associations (=0.358, p<0.005). We conclude that phage and antibiotic resistance are positively associated across this clinical isolate collection, suggesting that the two resistance phenotypes are not independent in P. aeruginosa. These findings have implications for the development of phage-antibiotic cocktails.
ER -