Isolation and identification of a natural bacteriophage as a biocontrol agent against Proteus vulgaris

Moradpour, Z and Ghasemian, A (2019) Isolation and identification of a natural bacteriophage as a biocontrol agent against Proteus vulgaris. Research Journal of Biotechnology, 14 (7). pp. 62-66.

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Abstract

Proteus vulgaris as an opportunistic microorganism in human infections especially in immunodeficient individuals is of medical importance. While the potential of bacteriophages as efficient, safe and cost- effective antimicrobial agents to combat resistant bacteria was well recognized, lytic phage activity against P. vulgaris has not been investigated since 1967. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a natural lytic phage capable of infecting P. vulgaris strain, which is isolated from clinical samples. Following the primary screening, the most efficient phage was chosen for further characterization. The morphology, killing efficiency and bacterial host range were determined under controlled conditions in the laboratory. Isolated phage was shown to have broad host range and infected Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis as well as P. vulgaris. The virion was designated as gP0Bh-MGP1 and characterized by a head diameter of about 84 nm and a tail size of about 28 × 126 nm. It belongs morphologically to the myoviridae family as analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Theresult of this investigation indicated that the isolated phage, gP0Bh-MGP1, is efficient in lysing different pathogenic agents and may be a good candidate to be used as an agent to combat infections caused by resistant strains.

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