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Lytic Cycle of Bacteriophages

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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...

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Updated: Jan 7, 2026

Bacteriophage Effectiveness for Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Evaluated via High-Throughput Settings

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From Isolation to Application: Designing a Multi-Target Phage Cocktail for Bivalve Safety.

Pedro Costa¹, Carla Pereira¹, Jesús L Romalde²

¹CESAM, Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.

|December 31, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study developed an effective phage cocktail to combat key bivalve pathogens like Escherichia coli and Salmonella. The optimized cocktail enhances bacterial inactivation, offering a promising alternative to single-phage treatments.

Keywords:

bacterial viability cocktail formulation phage cocktail phage isolation screening assays

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A Protocol for Phage Display and Affinity Selection Using Recombinant Protein Baits

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Area of Science:

Microbiology
Bacteriology
Phage Therapy

Background:

Single-phage treatments face limitations due to narrow host specificity and bacterial resistance.
Phage cocktails offer a solution by broadening host range, mitigating resistance, and improving bacterial inactivation.
Key bivalve pathogens include Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium and Enteritidis, and Aeromonas hydrophila.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and optimize a phage cocktail targeting four critical bacterial pathogens.
To identify phages with broad host ranges and effective lytic activity against target bacteria.
To formulate a cocktail balancing efficacy, resistance management, and inter-phage dynamics.

Main Methods:

Isolation and purification of twelve bacteriophages.
Screening of phages for bacterial inactivation using resazurin-based viability assays.
Host range analysis to determine phage infectivity across target bacterial species.
Formulation of phage cocktails, evaluating combinations for optimal bacterial reduction.

Main Results:

All isolated phages demonstrated activity against at least one additional bacterial species.
Four phages (phEc4, phSE1, phAh2, phAh4) showed efficacy against three of the four target pathogens.
The most effective cocktail comprised phEc3 (E. coli), phST1 (S. Typhimurium), phSE1 (S. Enteritidis), and phAh2 (A. hydrophila).

Conclusions:

An optimized phage cocktail was successfully formulated targeting key bivalve pathogens.
The developed cocktail demonstrates potential for enhanced bacterial inactivation in bivalve aquaculture.
Further in vitro and in vivo studies are warranted to assess safety and efficacy in bivalve depuration systems.