Intralytix, Inc., The Columbus Center, Baltimore, MD, 21202, USA.
J Sci Food Agric. 2013 Oct;93(13):3137-46. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.6222. Epub 2013 Jun 17.
Bacteriophages (also called 'phages') are viruses that kill bacteria. They are arguably the oldest (3 billion years old, by some estimates) and most ubiquitous (total number estimated to be 10(30) -10(32) ) known organisms on Earth. Phages play a key role in maintaining microbial balance in every ecosystem where bacteria exist, and they are part of the normal microflora of all fresh, unprocessed foods. Interest in various practical applications of bacteriophages has been gaining momentum recently, with perhaps the most attention focused on using them to improve food safety. That approach, called 'phage biocontrol', typically includes three main types of applications: (i) using phages to treat domesticated livestock in order to reduce their intestinal colonization with, and shedding of, specific bacterial pathogens; (ii) treatments for decontaminating inanimate surfaces in food-processing facilities and other food establishments, so that foods processed on those surfaces are not cross-contaminated with the targeted pathogens; and (iii) post-harvest treatments involving direct applications of phages onto the harvested foods. This mini-review primarily focuses on the last type of intervention, which has been gaining the most momentum recently. Indeed, the results of recent studies dealing with improving food safety, and several recent regulatory approvals of various commercial phage preparations developed for post-harvest food safety applications, strongly support the idea that lytic phages may provide a safe, environmentally-friendly, and effective approach for significantly reducing contamination of various foods with foodborne bacterial pathogens. However, some important technical and nontechnical problems may need to be addressed before phage biocontrol protocols can become an integral part of routine food safety intervention strategies implemented by food industries in the USA.
噬菌体（也称为“噬菌体”）是一种能够杀死细菌的病毒。它们可能是地球上最古老（据估计有 30 亿年历史）和最普遍（总数估计为 10(30) -10(32) ）的已知生物。噬菌体在维持每个存在细菌的生态系统中的微生物平衡方面发挥着关键作用，并且它们是所有新鲜、未加工食品正常微生物区系的一部分。最近，人们对噬菌体的各种实际应用产生了浓厚的兴趣，其中最引人关注的可能是将其用于提高食品安全。这种方法称为“噬菌体生物控制”，通常包括三种主要应用类型：（i）使用噬菌体治疗驯化的牲畜，以减少其肠道中特定细菌病原体的定植和脱落；（ii）处理食品加工设施和其他食品场所中的无生命表面，以防止这些表面上加工的食品与目标病原体交叉污染；（iii）涉及将噬菌体直接施用于收获的食品的收获后处理。这篇迷你评论主要关注最后一种干预类型，这种干预类型最近发展势头最为强劲。事实上，最近涉及提高食品安全的研究结果，以及最近对各种用于收获后食品安全应用的商业噬菌体制剂的监管批准，强烈支持这样一种观点，即裂解噬菌体可能为显著减少各种食品中食源性病原体的污染提供一种安全、环保且有效的方法。然而，在噬菌体生物控制方案可以成为美国食品行业实施常规食品安全干预策略的一个组成部分之前，可能需要解决一些重要的技术和非技术问题。
