OBTAINING AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF BACTERIOPHAGES

Abstract

Introduction. Bacteriophages are considered the natural predators of bacteria and are found wherever there are bacteria. Due to their specificity, bacteriophages are used in various fields such as medicine, agriculture, food industry, biotechnology, etc. For a bacteriophage to be useful, it is to be demonstrated that it has certain characteristics other than simply killing the bacterial cell. 

Material and methods. In a secondary study, narrative synthesis was performed. The terms used for literature selection were "bacteriophages", "practical application", "isolation methods", "phage amplification", "phage purification". The initial search resulted in 132 articles, from which 44 eligible papers were selected and analyzed.

Results. Many techniques have been devised for the isolation, amplification and purification of bacteriophages, each with strengths and weaknesses. However, the techniques described result in a relatively pure sample of bacteriophage that can be characterized. Bacteriophages can be characterized based on physiological, morphological or inactivation properties. Knowing the characteristic properties of each bacteriophage provides more details about the lifestyle and the potential for toxigenic or lysogenic conversion, which ensures safety in the practical application of bacteriophages.

Conclusions. This article summarizes directions for the application of bacteriophages and addresses specific restrictions and gaps in the field. We hope that this review will provide researchers with useful information for selecting appropriate phage-related research directions.