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Updated: Sep 20, 2025

Bacteriophage Effectiveness for Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Evaluated via High-Throughput Settings
Published on: August 19, 2021
Functional resilience of activated sludge exposed to Bacillus globigii and bacteriophage MS2
Matthew Smith1, Sean Stuntz1, Yun Xing1
1Department of Systems Engineering and Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, OH, USA.
Abstract:
This study evaluated the effect of two biocontaminant surrogates on the activity and performance of activated sludge. In the presence of bacteriophage MS2 at 3.2 × 108 PFU/ml, the peak respiration rates varied between 9.1 and 10.5 mg O2/gVSS/hr, generally similar to the rates observed in negative controls. MS2 did not alter the molar CO2-produced-to-O2 consumed stoichiometry observed during respiration. Similar results were observed for Bacillus globigii (BG). Ethanol, a potential co-contaminant associated with biocontamination incidents, can inhibit initial oxygen uptake. MS2 and BG both adsorbed to activated sludge; post-exposure viability was confirmed for BG but not for MS2. This study is the first to evaluate the effects of BG and MS2 on activated sludge, and it presents a protocol that can be used in operational situations.
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