Practical applications of phage-based technologies in food safety
Abstract
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major foodborne pathogen. It produces Shiga toxins that cause bloody diarrhea and, in some cases, hemolytic uremic syndrome in humans. E. coli O157:H7 mainly colonizes the intestine of cattle. Once infected, cattle can shed high concentrations of the bacteria leading to widespread transmission along the food production chain. Here, we describe the successful application of bacteriophages for the control of E. coli O157:H7 in food matrices. Sixteen of wild-type anti-E. coli O157:H7 bacteriophages were isolated from various environmental sources and characterized in terms of taxonomy, kinetics and other growth characteristics. Application of bacteriophages significantly reduced E. coli O157:H7 contamination in both ground beef and spinach. Additionally, the same bacteriophage library was used to develop a typing system to more effectively discriminate clonal strains of E. coli O157:H7. When combined with MLVA, phage typing proved to be an affordable and practical method to distinguish very similar E. coli O157:H7 strains. Taken together, these studies demonstrate the wide-reaching potential of harnessing the anti-bacterial properties of bacteriophages in limiting the transmission of foodborne pathogens and associated foodborne illness outbreaks as a valuable tool for epidemiological investigations.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Ebner, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Microbiology|Animal sciences
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