Isolation and morphological characterization of a brucellaphage against Brucella abortus strain S 19

Deepti Chachra, Harsimran Kaur, Mudit Chandra and H M Saxena

: J Bioengineer & Biomedical Sci

Abstract :

Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen capable of infecting animals and humans. The use of phages in the treatment of bacterial infections is an attractive alternative to existing antibiotic therapy. Phages target a particular host and it is unlikely to elicit resistance in untargeted bacterial strains. A brucellaphage was isolated against actively growing stage of Brucella abortus strain S 19 from sewage sample of a dairy farm in Ludhiana. The plaque morphology revealed discrete, clear, circular plaques of diameter 0.1 to 3 mm after 48 h of incubation at 37oC aerobically. The field isolates (n=4) of B. abortus were sensitive to phage. The isolated brucellaphage failed to lyse any culture of heterologous species tested. Pasteurella multocida, E.coli, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella Dublin, Micrococcus and Pseudomonas spp. Electron microscopic studies of the brucellaphage revealed it to be an elementary body measuring approximately 65 nm at 50,000 X magnification with rounded head and a very short tail.The size and shape resembles another Brucella phage Tbilisi phage and the other phages isolated elsewhere. According to the literature reviewed, this is the first report of isolation of a brucellaphage from Punjab.