Isolation and Characterization of Lytic Bacteriophages as an Alternative to Prevent Pseudomonas Spp in Poultry Industry

The Pseudomonas genus is a big problem mainly for the poultry food industry. The shelf life of chicken carcasses stored under refrigeration is limited by the appearance of undesirable odors and sliminess surface generated primarily by Gram negative bacteria. Due to the subsequent emergence of resistant bacteria, is necessary proving new alternatives as guaranty the microbiological quality of foods and human health. Bacteriophages or phages are viruses of bacteria that use resources of bacteria for their replication and killing bacteria “naturally”, showing them as a potential tool for bacteria biocontrol in food industry. In this study, 11 bacteriophages were isolated from the exudate product of defrost of chicken carcasses using as host strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 25619) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (ATCC 13525). This study also aimed at the purification, quantification and morphological and molecular characterization of phages (RFLP). Bacteriophage can be found in all types of environments, it was possible to perform isolation and purification and achieve concentrations of 1011 PFU/ml, which demonstrated a broad spectrum of action on different bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Bacteriophages were classified as belonging to the order of Caudovirales and families Podoviridae and Myoviridae. Bacteriophages showed similar morphology, but some showed different genetic profiles.