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Bacteriophages in sewage: abundance, roles, and applications

Elisenda Ballesté1, Anicet R Blanch1, Maite Muniesa1

  • 1Departament de Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

FEMS Microbes
|June 19, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Sewage contains abundant bacteriophages from the human gut. These phages are crucial for water quality monitoring and may offer future applications in controlling pathogens and improving wastewater treatment efficacy.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental microbiology
  • Virology
  • Wastewater engineering

Background:

  • Raw sewage harbors a complex microbial community, with bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) being highly abundant, often exceeding bacterial populations.
  • These phages originate primarily from the human gut microbiome, but non-sewage sources also contribute to the sewage virome.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the composition and significance of bacteriophages in raw sewage and wastewater treatment plants.
  • To explore the potential roles of phages in horizontal gene transfer, including antibiotic resistance.
  • To discuss current and potential applications of enteric phages in water quality assessment and wastewater management.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on bacteriophages in sewage and wastewater.
  • Analysis of phage populations and their dynamics within sewage systems and treatment plants.
  • Examination of research on phage-host interactions and gene transfer mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • Human gut phages dominate raw sewage, persisting through transit without significant replication.
  • Bacterial and phage populations change significantly within wastewater treatment plants.
  • Phages are implicated in the horizontal transfer of genes, potentially including antibiotic resistance genes.

Conclusions:

  • Bacteriophages in sewage are critical indicators for fecal pollution and source tracking, influencing water quality legislation.
  • Enteric phages hold promise for controlling pathogenic bacteria in sewage and mitigating issues like biofilm formation in wastewater treatment.
  • Further research is needed to fully understand and harness the potential of phages in environmental and biotechnological applications.
Keywords:
bacteriophagesfaecal indicatorsmicrobial source trackingsewagesomatic phagestransduction

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