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Updated: May 5, 2026

Bacteriophage Effectiveness for Biocontrol of Foodborne Pathogens Evaluated via High-Throughput Settings
Published on: August 19, 2021
The building blocks of phage therapy: from lytic phage identification to preclinical validation against
1BioISI - Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal.
Abstract:
The fight against antimicrobial resistance is bringing back phage therapy, consisting of the use of lytic phages against specific pathogenic bacteria. For this purpose, libraries of well-characterized lytic phages are crucial, as the phage-bacteria arms race can limit efficacy, making phage cocktails generally more effective. In a recent study by H. -Y. Kuo, C. J. B. Bregente, T. T. D. Thuy, J. H. Hidrosollo, et al. (Microbiol Spectr 13:e00835-25, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00835-25), 12 novel lytic phages were isolated against carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae complex, a WHO critical-priority pathogen. These phages showed antibacterial activity in vitro and a broad host range across a panel of 80 CR-ECC isolates, as well as improved survival in the invertebrate model Galleria mellonella. Testing the two most promising phages in a mouse model showed that one significantly enhanced survival, demonstrating its therapeutic potential. This study offers a roadmap for isolating, characterizing, and evaluating phages for therapeutic use.
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