Efficacy of Novel Bacteriophages against <i>Escherichia coli</i> Biofilms on Stainless Steel
Jean Pierre González-Gómez,
Berenice González-Torres,
Pedro Javier Guerrero-Medina,
Osvaldo López-Cuevas,
Cristóbal Chaidez,
María Guadalupe Avila-Novoa,
Melesio Gutiérrez-Lomelí
Affiliations
Jean Pierre González-Gómez
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Microbiana y Alimentaria, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, División de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 1115, Ocotlán 47820, Mexico
Berenice González-Torres
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Microbiana y Alimentaria, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, División de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 1115, Ocotlán 47820, Mexico
Pedro Javier Guerrero-Medina
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Microbiana y Alimentaria, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, División de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 1115, Ocotlán 47820, Mexico
Osvaldo López-Cuevas
Laboratorio Nacional para la Investigación en Inocuidad Alimentaria (LANIIA), Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. (CIAD), Carretera a Eldorado Km 5.5, Culiacán 80110, Mexico
Cristóbal Chaidez
Laboratorio Nacional para la Investigación en Inocuidad Alimentaria (LANIIA), Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C. (CIAD), Carretera a Eldorado Km 5.5, Culiacán 80110, Mexico
María Guadalupe Avila-Novoa
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Microbiana y Alimentaria, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, División de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 1115, Ocotlán 47820, Mexico
Melesio Gutiérrez-Lomelí
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología Microbiana y Alimentaria, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, División de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Universidad 1115, Ocotlán 47820, Mexico
Biofilm formation by E. coli is a serious threat to meat processing plants. Chemical disinfectants often fail to eliminate biofilms; thus, bacteriophages are a promising alternative to solve this problem, since they are widely distributed, environmentally friendly, and nontoxic to humans. In this study, the biofilm formation of 10 E. coli strains isolated from the meat industry and E. coli ATCC BAA-1430 and ATCC 11303 were evaluated. Three strains, isolated from the meat contact surfaces, showed adhesion ability and produced extracellular polymeric substances. Biofilms of these three strains were developed onto stainless steel (SS) surfaces and enumerated at 2, 12, 24, 48, and 120 h, and were visualized by scanning electron microscopy. Subsequently, three bacteriophages showing podovirus morphology were isolated from ground beef and poultry liver samples, which showed lytic activity against the abovementioned biofilm-forming strains. SS surfaces with biofilms of 2, 14, and 48 h maturity were treated with mixed and individual bacteriophages at 8 and 9 log10 PFU/mL for 1 h. The results showed reductions greater than 6 log10 CFU/cm2 as a result of exposing SS surfaces with biofilms of 24 h maturity to 9 log10 PFU/mL of bacteriophages; however, the E. coli and bacteriophage strains, phage concentration, and biofilm development stage had significant effects on biofilm reduction (p E. coli; however, it is necessary to increase the libraries of phages with lytic activity against the strains isolated from production environments.