Developed by:
University of Murcia, Departement of Genetics and Microbiologý

Country(ies) involved:
Spain

Funding sources:
National (ministries, agencies, regions)

Brief description of the practice:
Antimicrobial resistance has become a problem that has been gaining significance in recent years, having a great impact on both public health and the economy. This has led to an interest in alternative mechanisms for bacterial biocontrol in different fields such as health, food preservation and aquaculture. The use of viruses infecting bacteria (bacteriophages or phages for short) is a method that it is receiving a great attention. Phages are very specific for their host, not being able to infect animals or plants. Usually phages are only able to infect a bacterial species, meaning that they don’t affect other bacteria in the environment. This contributes to the maintenance of the normal microbiota of the animal or plant.

Specific organism(s) focused:
Viruses; Archaea, bacteria, cyanobacteria

Serctor(s) involved:
Aquaculture and fisheries technologies; Food and feed; Agriculture; Biomedical

TRL:
TRL 4-6

Helix sector/involvement:
Research performing organizations and academia; SME; Ministries, agencies, local administration

Link to the good practice:
1. Xu, Y. Phage and phage lysins: New era of bio-preservatives and food safety agents. J Food Sci 86, 3349-3373 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.15843
2. Gambino, M. & Brøndsted, L. Looking into the future of phage-based control of zoonotic pathogens in food and animal production. Curr Opin Biotechnol 68, 96-103 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2020.10.003
3. Dy, R. L., Rigano, L. A. & Fineran, P. C. Phage-based biocontrol strategies and their application in agriculture and aquaculture. Biochemical Society Transactions 46, 1605-1613 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1042/bst20180178
4. Kowalska, J. D. et al. Growing trend of fighting infections in aquaculture environment-opportunities and challenges of phage therapy. Antibiotics (Basel) 9 (2020). https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9060301
5. Ramos-Vivas, J., Superio, J., Galindo-Villegas, J. & Acosta, F. Phage Therapy as a Focused Management Strategy in Aquaculture. Int J Mol Sci 22 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms221910436