Abstract
Shigella dysenteriae type 1 is the causative agent of the most severe form of bacillary dysentery, which occurs as epidemics in many developing countries. We isolated a bacteriophage from surface water samples from Bangladesh that specifically lyses strains of S. dysenteriae type 1. This phage, designated SF-9, belongs to the Podoviridae family and has a 41-kb double-stranded DNA genome. Further screening of water samples for the prevalence of the phage revealed 9 of 71 (12.6%) water samples which were positive for the phage. These water samples were also positive in PCR assays for one or more S. dysenteriae type 1-specific genes, including ipaBCD and stx1, and live S. dysenteriae type 1 was isolated from three phage-positive samples. The results of this study suggest that phage SF-9 may have epidemiological applications in tracing the presence of S. dysenteriae type 1 in environmental waters.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 7028-7031 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Applied and environmental microbiology |
Volume | 69 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biotechnology
- Food Science
- Ecology
- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology