Foodborne pathogens are a major global public health problem. As an example, only in the European Union, more than 200,000 cases of campylobacteriosis and more than 90,000 cases of salmonellosis are confirmed every year. This prevalence is aggravated by the abuse of antibiotics in both production animals and humans, which has resulted in the emergence of multirresistant bacterial strains. In addition, these strains also develop resistance to biocides used in the food production chain which difficult biofilm removal and creates persistent sources of contamination. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find alternatives to antibiotics and biocides. Despite being ignored for decades, bacteriophages are one of the most promising alternatives to antibiotics. The development of omics technologies as next generation sequencing and proteomics has profoundly increased phage characterization. This, in combination with recombinant DNA technology has opened the door not only to the use of well characterized phages but also of active phage proteins in the fight against foodborne pathogens.
Phages and their proteins can be used to combat foodborne pathogens from farm to fork. The use of lytic phages in both farm animals and food presents several challenges such as maintaining phage stability, phage infection efficiency, and range of phage activity. There are some current research lines to solve some of these problems, such as liposome encapsulation, that are showing promising results. The use of engineered phages is another interesting option for enhanced antimicrobial activity of these bacterial viruses. However, the absence of specific regulations may limit the broad use of phages in both farm animals and foodstuffs. Therefore, exploiting phage proteomes is a potential option to develop new antimicrobial products to be used in the food chain. In recent years, endolysins and other phage-derived proteins have been evaluated. But phages and their proteins are not only an alternative to antibiotics. They can be also used to develop new foodborne pathogens detection methods. For example, phages can be combined with molecular techniques as qPCR to detect viable cells of specific pathogens in food samples. In the same way, phage receptor binding proteins have an enormous potential to develop new, rapid and specific detection methods. Therefore, this research topic aims to cover all phage applications to control and detect phages throughout the food chain.
The Topic Editors welcome original research and reviews on topics related, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Phage therapy against foodborne pathogens in food production animals.
- Phages and their proteins to combat foodborne pathogens biofilms.
- Phages and their proteins to control foodborne pathogens in food products.
- Phages and their proteins to develop new foodborne pathogen detection methods.
Foodborne pathogens are a major global public health problem. As an example, only in the European Union, more than 200,000 cases of campylobacteriosis and more than 90,000 cases of salmonellosis are confirmed every year. This prevalence is aggravated by the abuse of antibiotics in both production animals and humans, which has resulted in the emergence of multirresistant bacterial strains. In addition, these strains also develop resistance to biocides used in the food production chain which difficult biofilm removal and creates persistent sources of contamination. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find alternatives to antibiotics and biocides. Despite being ignored for decades, bacteriophages are one of the most promising alternatives to antibiotics. The development of omics technologies as next generation sequencing and proteomics has profoundly increased phage characterization. This, in combination with recombinant DNA technology has opened the door not only to the use of well characterized phages but also of active phage proteins in the fight against foodborne pathogens.
Phages and their proteins can be used to combat foodborne pathogens from farm to fork. The use of lytic phages in both farm animals and food presents several challenges such as maintaining phage stability, phage infection efficiency, and range of phage activity. There are some current research lines to solve some of these problems, such as liposome encapsulation, that are showing promising results. The use of engineered phages is another interesting option for enhanced antimicrobial activity of these bacterial viruses. However, the absence of specific regulations may limit the broad use of phages in both farm animals and foodstuffs. Therefore, exploiting phage proteomes is a potential option to develop new antimicrobial products to be used in the food chain. In recent years, endolysins and other phage-derived proteins have been evaluated. But phages and their proteins are not only an alternative to antibiotics. They can be also used to develop new foodborne pathogens detection methods. For example, phages can be combined with molecular techniques as qPCR to detect viable cells of specific pathogens in food samples. In the same way, phage receptor binding proteins have an enormous potential to develop new, rapid and specific detection methods. Therefore, this research topic aims to cover all phage applications to control and detect phages throughout the food chain.
The Topic Editors welcome original research and reviews on topics related, but not limited to, the following areas:
- Phage therapy against foodborne pathogens in food production animals.
- Phages and their proteins to combat foodborne pathogens biofilms.
- Phages and their proteins to control foodborne pathogens in food products.
- Phages and their proteins to develop new foodborne pathogen detection methods.
