Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Targeting multidrug-resistant bacteria with genetic-information-free protein-only phages
doi: 10.1101/2025.10.13.682247
Figure Lengend Snippet: (a) Time-series OD600 measurements acquired every 20 min for 72 h at 37°C. Points denote the mean of three technical replicates; grey error bars indicate SD. Rows correspond to successive 10-fold dilutions. Conditions: wild-type T7 (positive control, PC), AMP-loaded POPs (AMP), POPs, and HPLC-grade water (negative control, NC). (b) Dose-effect relationship of wild-type T7 phages and engineered POPs based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) assays, shown as the relative increase in OD600 at 12 hours compared to the initial OD600. (c) Workflow for POP generation and testing: 1. Design and de novo synthesize modular linear gene fragments encoding antimicrobial and structural proteins. 2: Reboot fragments in a cell-free protein synthesis system to generate POPs. 3: Culture the host bacteria in LB broth at 37°C, 220 rpm overnight. 4: Dispense cells into 96-well plates. 5: Apply serial dilutions of POPs across the plate. 6: assess inhibitory activity by time-series monitoring of OD600.
Article Snippet: Custom de novo gene synthesis was performed according to the provider’s proprietary protocols (Twist Bioscience, USA) via high-throughput, silicon-based synthesis per provider protocols with a reported average error rate of 0.013%.
Techniques: Positive Control, Negative Control, Bacteria, Activity Assay