Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 27, 2026

Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins
09:40

Phage Phenomics: Physiological Approaches to Characterize Novel Viral Proteins

Published on: June 11, 2015

12.8K

Phages for Phage Therapy: Isolation, Characterization, and Host Range Breadth

Paul Hyman1

  • 1Department of Biology/Toxicology, Ashland University, 401 College Ave., Ashland, OH 44805, USA. phyman@ashland.edu.

Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland)
|March 14, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Phage therapy requires isolating bacteriophages with specific traits like broad host range and avoiding toxin genes. This review details methods to bias isolation towards beneficial phages and their characterization for therapeutic use.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biotechnology
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Phage therapy is a promising alternative to antibiotics for bacterial infections.
  • Bacteriophages (phages) must possess specific characteristics for successful therapeutic application.
  • Current isolation and characterization methods may not consistently yield therapeutically suitable phages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review isolation procedures that enrich for phages with desirable therapeutic characteristics, such as broad host range.
  • To outline essential characterization methods for assessing phage utility in therapy, including limitations.
  • To present findings from a survey on current phage characterization practices among researchers.

Main Methods:

  • Review of literature on bacteriophage isolation and characterization techniques.
  • Discussion of variations in isolation protocols to achieve desired phage traits.
  • Analysis of standard characterization assays for phage therapy suitability.
  • Survey and discussion with academic and industry phage researchers.

Main Results:

  • Modified isolation strategies can increase the likelihood of obtaining phages with broader host ranges.
  • Comprehensive characterization is crucial to identify phages lacking undesirable traits (e.g., toxin genes, lysogeny).
  • Practices in phage characterization vary, highlighting a need for standardization.

Conclusions:

  • Tailoring phage isolation methods can improve the efficiency of identifying suitable candidates for phage therapy.
  • Rigorous characterization is essential to ensure the safety and efficacy of therapeutic phages.
  • Standardized characterization protocols are needed to advance phage therapy research and application.
Keywords:
bacteriophage characterizationbacteriophage isolationenrichment culturegenome sequencinghost rangephage therapy

More Related Videos

Precise Phage Mutagenesis with NgTET-Assisted CRISPR-Cas Systems10:52

Precise Phage Mutagenesis with NgTET-Assisted CRISPR-Cas Systems

Published on: October 14, 2025

646
Phage Therapy Application to Counteract Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Cystic Fibrosis Zebrafish Embryos11:20

Phage Therapy Application to Counteract Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection in Cystic Fibrosis Zebrafish Embryos

Published on: May 12, 2020

7.0K

Related Concept Videos

Range00:59

Range

The range is one of the measures of variation. It can be defined as the difference between a dataset's highest and lowest values. For example, in the study of seven 16-ounce soda cans, the filled volume of soda was measured, thus producing the following amount (in ounces) of soda:
15.9; 16.1; 15.2; 14.8; 15.8; 15.9; 16.0; 15.5
Measurements of the amount of soda in a 16-ounce can vary since different subjects record these measurements or since the exact amount - 16 ounces of liquid, was not...
14.1K
Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages00:43

Lysogenic Cycle of Bacteriophages

In contrast to the lytic cycle, phages infecting bacteria via the lysogenic cycle do not immediately kill their host cell. Instead, they combine their genome with the host genome, allowing the bacteria to replicate the phage DNA along with the bacterial genome. The incorporated copy of the phage genome is called the prophage. Some prophages can re-activate and enter the lytic cycle. This often occurs in response to a perturbation, such as DNA damage, but can also transpire in the absence of...
67.7K
Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages01:30

Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages

Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are specialized viruses that infect bacteria. A key characteristic of phages is their distinctive “head-tail” morphology. A phage begins the infection process (i.e., lytic cycle) by attaching to the outside of a bacterial cell. Attachment is accomplished via proteins in the phage tail that bind to specific receptor proteins on the outer surface of the bacterium. The tail injects the phage’s DNA genome into the bacterial cytoplasm. In the...
77.7K
¹H NMR: Long-Range Coupling01:27

¹H NMR: Long-Range Coupling

The coupling interactions of nuclei across four or more bonds are usually weak, with J values less than 1 Hz. While these are usually not observed in spectra, the presence of multiple bonds along the coupling pathway can result in observable long-range coupling.
In alkenes, spin information is communicated via σ–π overlap, as seen in allylic (four-bond) and homoallylic (five-bond) couplings. These coupling interactions are stronger when the σ bond is parallel to the alkene...
2.7K
Angle of Twist - Elastic Range01:13

Angle of Twist - Elastic Range

Consider a cylindrical shaft with a length denoted by L and a consistent cross-sectional radius referred to as r. This shaft undergoes a torque at the free end. The highest shearing strain within the shaft is directly proportional to the twist angle and the radial distance from the shaft axis. When the shaft behaves elastically, this shearing strain can be articulated using variables such as the applied torque, radial distance, the polar moment of inertia, and the modulus of rigidity. By...
799
Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation02:32

Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation

In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...
27.6K