University of Manitoba

Purpose

This project aims to develop engineered hostPseudomonas aeruginosa strains with undesired prophages, phage defense systems, and virulence factors to streamline and enhance phage production. The work will begin with bioinformatic analyses to identify suitable candidate strains, followed by allelic exchange and targeted mutagenesis to remove unwanted elements. The engineered mutants will be evaluated for growth, fitness, and phage susceptibility relative to their parental strains. These optimized strains are expected to improve phage yield, simplify production workflows, reduce the number of required host strains, and prevent contamination from endogenous prophages.