Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages in poultry
Clostridium perfringens is a major cause of foodborne illness and poses a significant threat to public health and economic success in developed countries.
In response, researchers have turned to an age-old solution: Bacteriophages.
In a recent study, 19 C. perfringens and 6 C. perfringens-targeting bacteriophages were isolated from chicken samples.
Of these, the phage CPQ1 showed high thermostability and a broad host range, suggesting that it could be used as a control tool in the food industry.
Further analysis of the phage’s genome revealed that it belongs to the Picovirinae subfamily and does not contain antibiotic resistance or toxin genes.
The efficacy of CPQ1 as a control agent has yet to be evaluated, but this study highlights the promise of bacteriophages in controlling dangerous foodborne pathogens such as C. perfringens.
The authors Tahir Noor Mohammadi, Cunkuan Shen, Yuncheng Li, Mahmoud Gamaleldin Zayda, Jun Sato, Yoshimitsu Masuda, Ken-Ichi Honjoh, and Takahisa Miyamoto published these findings in the article Characterization of Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages and their application in chicken meat and milk, dated 16 January 2022.
Key findings:
- Clostridium perfringens is a foodborne pathogen that causes severe food poisoning worldwide, resulting in deaths and economic losses.
- Bacteriophages have been investigated as an alternative means of controlling pathogenic bacteria in the food industry.
- In this study, 19 Clostridium perfringens and 6 Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages were isolated from chicken meat. According to host spectrum and stability tests, bacteriophage CPQ1 showed high thermostability and the broadest host spectrum.
- Nucleotide sequence analysis of genomic DNA showed the absence of any antibiotic resistance, toxin, or virulence genes. In broth, CPQ1 showed strong lytic activity with a low MOI of 1, reducing the OD600 of Clostridium perfringens cell suspensions from 0.2 to 0.02 in 2 hours at 37 °C.
- In pasteurized milk and chicken, CPQ1 with an MOI of 10 also caused a significant decrease in the number of viable Clostridium perfringens compared to the bacteriophage control at both 24 °C and 37 °C.
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is one of the most important foodborne pathogens in developed countries.
It causes severe food poisoning outbreaks worldwide, along with mortality and economic losses.
Recently, bacteriophages have been investigated as an alternative tool to control pathogenic bacteria in the food industry.
In this study, 19 Clostridium perfringens and 6 Clostridium perfringens bacteriophages were isolated from chicken meat.
According to host range and stability tests, bacteriophage CPQ1 showed high thermostability and the broadest host range. The electron micrograph image of this bacteriophage suggested that it belongs to the Picovirinae subfamily of the Podoviridae family.
Nucleotide sequence analysis of the genomic DNA indicated the absence of any antibiotic resistance, toxin, or virulence genes. In broth, CPQ1 showed strong lytic activity with a low MOI of 1, decreasing the OD600 of Clostridium perfringens cell suspension from 0.2 to 0.02 at 37 °C in 2 h.
In pasteurized milk and chicken meat, CPQ1 with an MOI of 10 also caused a significant decrease in viable counts of Clostridium perfringens compared to the bacteriophageless control at both 24 °C and 37 °C.
This is the first report on the application of bacteriophage to control Clostridium perfringens in foods.
Keywords: Biocontrol; Clostridium perfringens type A; Food safety; Foodborne illness; Phage therapy.
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