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. 2023 May;63(5):481-488.
doi: 10.1002/jobm.202200635. Epub 2023 Jan 20.

Phenotypic characterization of phage vB_vcM_Kuja

Alice N Maina  1 , Francis B Mwaura  1 , John M Wagacha  1 , Miriam Jumba  1 , Ramy K Aziz  2   3 , Hanzada T Nour El-Din  2
Affiliations

Phenotypic characterization of phage vB_vcM_Kuja

Alice N Maina et al. J Basic Microbiol. 2023 May.

Abstract

Bacteriophage therapy targeting the increasingly resistant Vibrio cholerae is highly needed. Hence, studying the phenotypic behavior of potential phages under different conditions is a prerequisite to delivering the phage in an active infective form. The objective of this study was to characterize phage VP4 (vB_vcM_Kuja), an environmental vibriophage isolated from River Kuja in Migori County, Kenya in 2015. The phenotypic characteristics of the phage were determined using a one-step growth curve, restriction digestion profile, pH, and temperature stability tests. The results revealed that the phage is stable through a wide range of temperatures (20-50°C) and maintains its plaque-forming ability at pH ranging from 6 to 12. The one-step growth curve showed a latent period falling between 40 and 60 min, while burst size ranged from 23 to 30 plaque-forming units/10 µl at the same host strain. The restriction digestion pattern using EcoRI, SalI, HindIII, and XhoI enzymes showed that HindIII could cut the phage genome. The phage DNA could not be restricted by the other three enzymes. The findings of this study can be used in future studies to determine phage-host interactions.

Keywords: Vibrio cholera; endonucleases; plaque forming units; restriction digestion.

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