A rapid and ultrasensitive CRISPR/Cas12a-based assay for the accurate identification of T-even type phages

Phage contamination poses a significant threat to industrial fermentation, leading to substantial economic losses. Virulent T-even type phages (T2/T4/T6) represent particularly concerning biological hazards in fermentation systems. This paper developed a novel CRISPR/Cas12a-based system integrated with recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), enabling ultrasensitive identification of T-even type phages. This method targeted the TerL gene of T-even type phages as a detection marker. The optimized RPA-CRISPR assay demonstrated exceptional sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) reaching 1 aM for synthetic targets. Besides, this system achieved detection thresholds of 1 and 10 PFU/μL for T2 and T4 phages, respectively. Comparative validation with quantitative PCR (qPCR) confirmed the method's reliability through strong correlation in the detection for both spiked and wastewater samples. The detection platform exhibited remarkable potential for rapid, sensitive monitoring of T-even type phages contamination in fermentation processes, offering promising application prospects for quality control in biochemical industries.