This review article explores emerging strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance by targeting type IV secretion systems (T4SSs), which are central to the spread of resistance-carrying plasmids. It focuses on male-specific bacteriophages that selectively infect and kill bacteria carrying conjugative AMR plasmids. The review summarises recent advances in understanding their anti-conjugation mechanisms, methods for isolation and classification, and evidence of their effectiveness in laboratory and animal studies. Overall, the findings highlight male-specific phages as promising and sustainable biocontrol tools to limit the spread of antimicrobial resistance.
The research was conducted as part of an ICARS-supported project in China aiming to develop novel interventions for eliminating mobile AMR genes from human and animal microbiomes, co-funded by ICARS under the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) funding programme.
