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. 2021 Mar 31;9(4):731.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9040731.

Characterization and In Vitro Efficacy against Listeria monocytogenes of a Newly Isolated Bacteriophage, ɸIZSAM-1

Silvia Scattolini  1 , Daniela D'Angelantonio  1 , Arianna Boni  2 , Iolanda Mangone  1 , Maurilia Marcacci  1 , Noemi Battistelli  3 , Krizia D'Agostino  1 , Francesco Pomilio  1 , Cesare Camma  1 , Giacomo Migliorati  1 , Giuseppe Aprea  1
Affiliations

Characterization and In Vitro Efficacy against Listeria monocytogenes of a Newly Isolated Bacteriophage, ɸIZSAM-1

Silvia Scattolini et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen responsible of listeriosis, a disease that in humans is often related to the contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Phages are candidate biodecontaminants of pathogenic bacteria thanks to their ability to lyse prokaryotes while being safe for eukaryotic cells. In this study, ɸIZSAM-1 was isolated from the drain-waters of an Italian blue cheese plant and showed lytic activity against antimicrobial resistant Listeria monocytogenes strains. This phage was subjected to purification and in vitro efficacy tests. The results showed that at multiplicities of infection (MOIs) ≤ 1, phages were able to keep Listeria monocytogenes at low optical density values up to 8 h, with bacterial counts ranging from 1.02 to 3.96 log10 units lower than the control. Besides, ɸIZSAM-1 was further characterized, showing 25 principal proteins (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile) and a genome of approximately 50 kilo base pairs. Moreover, this study describes a new approach to phage isolation for applications in Listeriamonocytogenes biocontrol in food production. In particular, the authors believe that the selection of phages from the same environments where pathogens live could represent a new approach to successfully integrating the control measures in an innovative, cost effective, safe and environmentally friendly way.

Keywords: Listeria monocytogenes; bacteriophage; foodborne pathogen; in vitro efficacy test.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
ΦIZSAM-1 under transmission electron microscope observation (50,000×) (integration from the source Aprea et al., 2015) [11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Optical density values of L. monocytogenes ATCC7644 challenged with ΦIZSAM-1 (3G) at different multiplicity of infections (MOIs) from T0 to T33h. Lm CTR: L. monocytogenes ATCC7644 untreated control; 3G MOI 10: L. monocytogenes ATCC7644 challenged with ΦIZSAM-1 MOI 10; 3G MOI 1: L. monocytogenes ATCC7644 challenged with ΦIZSAM-1 MOI 1; 3G MOI 0.1: L. monocytogenes ATCC7644 challenged with ΦIZSAM-1 MOI 0.1.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ΦIZSAM-1 structural proteins. Lane 1 and 2: ΦIZSAM-1; lane 3: Molecular weight protein marker.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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