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Between 2015 and 2019, we hosted an International Phage Course at Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 2-week full-time course was hands-on and included lectures from renowned phage biologists. Participating students were able to meet and discuss with recognized experts from around the world in a familiar setting, facilitating the establishment of scientific collaborations and the expansion of their networks. Eighty-four students from 14 Latin American countries have participated in the course, which included isolation, characterization, genome sequencing, and annotation of novel phages. We have successfully created a coursework that enabled the acquisition of new knowledge and expertise in bacteriophage biology and strengthened ties among Latin American colleagues.
RESUMO
Introduction: Because of the clinical relevance of Mycobacteria, and from a therapeutic perspective, there is an increasing interest to study phages that infect bacteria belonging to this genus. Materials and Methods: A phage was isolated from a soil sample, using Mycobacterium smegmatis as host. Its characterization included sequencing, annotation, and analysis of the genome, host range determination, and electron microscopy imaging. Results: Mycobacterium phage vB_MsmS_Celfi is a temperate phage able to infect Mycobacterium tuberculosis with high efficiency. From electron microscopy images, Celfi belongs to the Siphoviridae family. Genome analysis classified phage Celfi into cluster L, subcluster L2 of Actinobacteriophage clusters. Mycobacterium phage Celfi exhibits a Lysin B distant to those present in other members of the subcluster and other mycobacteriophages. Conclusions: The discovery of new phages that infect M. tuberculosis could contribute to the development of novel tools for detection systems and future treatment of the disease.