Isolation and Characterization of Escherichia coli and Salmonella Bacteriophages from Poultry

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Background and Objective: Escherichia coli and Salmonella species are major microbes that badly affect poultry.Various antibiotics are being used to control them and subsequently, antibiotic resistance is increased.Bacteriophages are better alternatives to control resistant E. coli and Salmonella species.Bacteriophages of choice are expected in the environment of their host bacteria.The present study aims to isolate bacteriophages of Escherichia coli and Salmonella species from poultry samples.Materials and Methods: Poultry litter samples were collected and isolated strains of E. coli and Salmonella species, were evaluated for their antibiotic resistance pattern and used to isolate the bacteriophages.Poultry litter aqueous suspension was filtered with 0.2 µ syringe filters and used as a phage source.Results: Isolated E. coli phage is specific to the isolated five strains of E. coli, having burst size of 120 plaque forming units per cell, tolerant to salt concentration 0.5-1.5%,temperature 37-40EC, pH 4-8 and found to be a tadpole shaped measuring a diameter of 647 nm and long non-contractile tail of 125 nm.Isolated Salmonella phage is specific to the isolated six strains of Salmonella, having burst size of 211 PFU per cell, tolerant to salt concentration 0.5-1.5%,temperature 37-40EC, pH 4-8 and found to be tadpole-shaped measuring icosahedral head of 60 nm in diameter and a tail of 32 nm in length.Conclusion: The isolated E. coli and Salmonella phages are specific to only E. coli and Salmonella, respectively.These phages can be used in poultry to control E. coli and Salmonella.