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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 1999, p. 3767-3773, Vol. 65, No. 9
Department of Microbiology, Molecular
Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
83843,1 and Department of Pediatrics and
Microbiology, Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington
981052
Received 30 March 1999/Accepted 3 June 1999
Escherichia coli O157 antigen-specific bacteriophages
were isolated and tested to determine their ability to lyse laboratory cultures of Escherichia coli O157:H7. A total of 53 bovine
or ovine fecal samples were enriched for phage, and 5 of these samples were found to contain lytic phages that grow on E. coli
O157:H7. Three bacteriophages, designated KH1, KH4, and KH5, were
evaluated. At 37 or 4°C, a mixture of these three O157-specific
phages lysed all of the E. coli O157 cultures tested and
none of the non-O157 E. coli or non-E. coli
cultures tested. These results required culture aeration and a high
multiplicity of infection. Without aeration, complete lysis of the
bacterial cells occurred only after 5 days of incubation and only at
4°C. Phage infection and plaque formation were influenced by the
nature of the host cell O157 lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Strains that did
not express the O157 antigen or expressed a truncated LPS were not
susceptible to plaque formation or lysis by phage. In addition, strains
that expressed abundant mid-range-molecular-weight LPS did not support plaque formation but were lysed in liquid culture. Virulent O157 antigen-specific phages could play a role in biocontrol of E. coli O157:H7 in animals and fresh foods without compromising the viability of other normal flora or food quality.
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Biocontrol of Escherichia coli O157 with
O157-Specific Bacteriophages
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844. Phone: (208) 885-5906. Fax: (208) 885-6518. E-mail:
cbohach{at}uidaho.edu.
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