Bacteriophages and their implications on future biotechnology: a review

Irshad Ul Haq,Waqas Nasir Chaudhry,Ishtiaq Qadri,Saadia Andleeb,Maha Nadeem Akhtar

doi:10.1186/1743-422x-9-9

Irshad Ul Haq, Waqas Nasir Chaudhry + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422x-9-9

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Abstract

Recently it has been recognized that bacteriophages, the natural predators of bacteria can be used efficiently in modern biotechnology. They have been proposed as alternatives to antibiotics for many antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Phages can be used as biocontrol agents in agriculture and petroleum industry. Moreover phages are used as vehicles for vaccines both DNA and protein, for the detection of pathogenic bacterial strain, as display system for many proteins and antibodies. Bacteriophages are diverse group of viruses which are easily manipulated and therefore they have potential uses in biotechnology, research, and therapeutics. The aim of this review article is to enable the wide range of researchers, scientists, and biotechnologist who are putting phages into practice, to accelerate the progress and development in the field of biotechnology.

Highlights

Bacteriophages are the most abundant entities on earth
The applications of phages range from the diagnosis of the disease, through phage typing, and its prevention, to the treatment
By making a cock tail of phages it would become easy to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections that are otherwise resistant to the latest generations of antibiotics

Summary

Introduction

Bacteriophages are the most abundant entities on earth. These bacterial viruses have genetic material in the form of either DNA or RNA, encapsidated by a protein coat [1]. The coat protects DNA from degradation and as it acts as a virus-like particle it would target the vaccine to the antigen presenting cells [1]. When it was compared with the standard DNA vaccination, the antibody response was very much superior in mice [52] and rabbits [50]. The possibility of producing a hybrid phage has been proposed, a DNA vaccine contained in phage particle under the eukaryotic promoter and a phage display variant of the same antigen is present on the phage surface [1] Such a vaccine would efficiently target both humoral and cellular immune systems [13]. Extending the shelf life of animal products, phage bioprocessing could be used [64]

Conclusion

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