Studies on Shigella sonnei-specific bacteriophage isolated from a slaughterhouse

Continuous outbreaks of Shigella spp. have raised concerns about the lack of rapid and on-site applicable biosensor method for Shigella detection. Since a bacteriophage has recently been employed as an emerging bio-recognition element in biosensor method, Shigella sonnei-specific bacteriophage was isolated and purified from a slaughterhouse with the final concentration of 2.0×10¹² PFU/mL in this study. Analysis of purified S. sonnei-specific bacteriophage using transmission electron microscopy indicated that it possessed an icosahedral head with a relatively long non-contractile tail. It was therefore classified as a member of the Siphoviridae family. Head width, head length, and tail length were 69.9±11.2 nm, 77.5±8.8 nm, and 264.4±33.9 nm, respectively. The genomic DNA size of the S. sonnei-specific bacteriophage was determined to be approximately 25 kb by using 0.4% agarose gel electrophoresis. In specificity test with 43 food-associated microorganisms, the S. sonnei-specific bacteriophage exhibited a clear plaque against S. sonnei only. In addition, the S. sonnei-specific bacteriophage was stable within a wide range of pH values (pH 3-11) and temperatures (4-37°C). Thus, the present study demonstrated the excellent specificity and stability of the S. sonnei-specific bacteriophage as a novel bio-recognition element for S. sonnei detection in foods.