Isolation of Bacteriophage from Sewage Water

Abstract

Bacteriophages are virus-like particle that infect bacteria and can be found in all reservoirs populated by bacterial hosts, such as soil, sewage, sea water or even in the intestine of animals. Phages are very specific to the bacteria, thus they are suitable to be used as ‘bacteria-killers’. In this exercise, we will focus on the bacteriophages of coliform bacteria. Coliform bacteria are commonly found in large numbers in the intestines of mammals, where they aid in the digestion of food. Escherichia coli is a common fecal coliform bacterium. Raw, untreated sewage contains large numbers of E. coli. Therefore, we will use raw sewage as a source of bacteriophages that infect E. coli. In order to obtain the bacteriophage, a procedure of enrichment, isolation, dilution and seeding was followed, the presence of distinct plaques indicated that bacteriophage had been successfully amplified, separated and grown.