The antimycobacterial potential of bacteriophage

December 10, 2020

Mr. Kalapala is currently a Research Assistant in the lab of Dr. Rachit Agarwal at the Centre for Biosystems Science and Engineering, Division of Interdisciplinary Research, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He published a paper titled “Antimycobacterial potential of Mycobacteriophage under disease-mimicking conditions” as a first author in Frontiers in Microbiology (2020).

Author Interview

How would you explain your paper’s key results to the non-scientific community?

Bacteria are among the deadliest disease-causing agents. Before the discovery of antibiotics, even minor wounds could be fatal. Antibiotics revolutionized medicine but unfortunately, surviving bacteria often become resistant, leading to increased antibiotic resistance. This could return us to a pre-antibiotic era.

Nature, however, has an answer: bacteriophages—viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Our study uses bacteriophages to show that bacteria like Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Tb) could be treated effectively, including drug-resistant strains, by designing specific phage treatments.

What are the possible consequences of these findings for your research area?

Our findings emphasize the need to design phage therapy considering disease-like conditions, such as pH, nutrient availability, and hypoxia—factors relevant in tuberculosis. One of our key findings is the synergy between bacteriophages and antibiotics, even in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This highlights the potential of co-treatment strategies.

“[…] most striking findings is the synergy of bacteriophages and antibiotics even in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, calling for co-treatment strategies, especially to treat antibiotic-resistant infections.”

What was the exciting moment (eureka moment) during your research?

Seeing bacteriophages kill bacteria for the first time was thrilling, especially since I had never worked with phages before. Another exciting moment was discovering the synergy between our phage cocktail and the TB drug Rifampicin. It was unexpected and promising, suggesting complex and beneficial interactions between phages and antibiotics.

What do you hope to do next?

We plan to study phage-bacteria interactions at the individual level, especially under nutrient-deprived conditions where bacteria stop replicating—a common scenario in TB infections.

Where do you seek scientific inspiration?

From a young age, I’ve been curious about how things work. I used to fear thunderstorms until I learned the science behind them, which replaced fear with awe. This transformation through knowledge inspired me to pursue science—working at the edge of human understanding is deeply motivating.

How do you intend to help Indian science improve?

India has brilliant scientific minds, but a gap exists between scientists and the general public. Misinformation and pseudoscience thrive due to poor communication. I believe in improving scientific literacy through public outreach and open dialogue with scientists. As more people understand science, more will pursue it, strengthening Indian science.

Reference

Kalapala YC, Sharma PR, Agarwal R.
Antimycobacterial potential of Mycobacteriophage under disease-mimicking conditions.
Front. Microbiol. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.583661

Author: I was born in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, completed my schooling in Chennai, and moved to Bangalore for a BSc in Genetics, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology at Jain University. I later pursued a Master’s in Cancer Biology at Imperial College London. After my Master’s, I joined Dr. Rachit Agarwal’s lab at IISc as a Research Assistant, working on antibiotic-resistant Mycobacteria. My research focuses on host-bacteriophage interactions and designing phage therapies for slow-growing, drug-resistant infections. My broader interests include immunology, cancer biology, drug design, and resistance mechanisms.