Objective:To isolate virulent bacteriophage from environment samples and explore the potential way of decontaminating the environmental wastewater. Methods: The standard plaque assay, negative staining transmission electron microscopy (TEM), genome extraction and nucleases test were used to isolate bacteriophages. Then its morphology and characteristics were examined. Results: A novel bacteriophage XY-1 was isolated from a sewage pond in a hospital. It infected and killed 6 E.coli reference strains. The phage had a round head (diameter 40-50 nm), no tail and the genome was ssRNA of approximately 5.0 kb. It was able to reduce E.coli to an extent of 44.63% to 67.00% when being added into the samples of different raw sewage water, depending on the contact time, the temperature and the phage dose. Conclusion: From the morphology typical and nucleotide characteristics (RNA) of the genome of phage, phage XY-1 appears to be closely related to phage f2. It may have some effects for the control of E.coli in sewage water.
Dear Editor,In recent years,owing to the fact that antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become more and more prevalent,there has been a resurgence of interest in the use of bacteriophages.However,bacteriophage therapy remains an underutilized option in modern medicine due to technical hurdles such as limited host range,narrow spectrum of bacteria
