Characterization of Campylobacter Bacteriophages Isolated from Chicken Samples

Introduction: Campylobacter is the major cause of human bacterial gastroenteritis in developed countries, and chicken meat products are considered to be a major source of campylobacteriosis. Controlling Campylobacter in chicken meat products reduces the risk of campylobacteriosis. Bacteriophages are one of the promising biocontrol agents, since they are specific to the host bacteria and not harmful to human. 

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to isolate and characterize bacteriophage specific to Campylobacter.

Methods: Campylobacter strains were isolated from chicken meat and bovine liver samples. A total of 53 isolates (46 C. jejuni and 7 C. coli) were characterized by using RAPD and automated riboprinting. Of these, 10 strains were used as hosts for the isolation of lytic phages from chicken meat samples. Lytic spectra of the isolated phages were determined against C. jejuni and C. coli isolates. C. jejuni isolate L26 was inoculated in BHI broth at 10⁵ CFU/ml in the presence of phage PHC10. Viable counts were determined after 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 24 h incubation at 42°C. Significant difference was analyzed by Student’s t-test.

Results: The characterization of 46 C. jejuni isolates showed that they belonged to 25 RiboGroups and 24 RAPD types. On the other hand, 7 C. coli isolates were classified into 3 RiboGroups and 3 RAPD types. Among 26 lytic phages for C. jejuni, the phage PHC10 had the broadest lytic spectra. The phage PHC10 lysed 28/46 (61%) of the C. jejuni isolates. All lytic phages did not lyse C. coli isolates. The phage PHC10 inhibited the growth of C. jejuni L26 for 12 h. The viable count was significantly lower than that of control even after 24-h incubation (P < 0.05).

Significance: The phage PHC10 seems to be an effective biocontrol agent against C. jejuni.