An in vitro fermentation model to study the impact of bacteriophages targeting Shiga toxin-encoding Escherichia coli on the colonic microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Lytic bacteriophages are considered safe for human consumption as biocontrol agents against foodborne pathogens, in particular in ready-to-eat foodstuffs. Phages could, however, evolve to infect different hosts when passing through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This underlines the importance of understanding the impact of phages towards colonic microbiota, particularly towards bacterial families usually found in the colon such as the Enterobacteriaceae. Here we propose in vitro batch fermentation as model for initial safety screening of lytic phages targeting Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC). As inoculum we used faecal material of three healthy donors. To assess phage safety, we monitored fermentation parameters, including short chain fatty acid production and gas producti

SUBMITTER: Pinto G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9512901 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature