PROTOCOL | The Phage

Sewage sample processing for bacteriophage isolation

February 12, 2025

Sewage is a rich source of diverse bacteriophages, particularly coliphages that target coliform bacteria. However, its composition can vary significantly depending on the source,…

Prophage Induction Using Mitomycin C

January 7, 2024

Prophages are integrated viral genomes that reside within bacterial chromosomes, remaining dormant until triggered by various environmental stimuli. One of the most widely employed…

Sleeping bacteriophage just before induction

Lysogenic to lytic cycle: Bacteriophage Induction

August 18, 2023

Bacteriophages, particularly template phages, have developed sophisticated tactics for breaching bacterial defenses and binding to the bacterial genome. Within their hosts, they replicate, and…

Bacteriophage sample collection from sewage

Sewage Sample Collection for Bacteriophage Isolation

June 26, 2023

Sewage presents an ideal environment for bacteriophages to thrive, primarily because it contains abundant bacteria, serving as a plentiful food source for these viruses….

A lab technologist using pipette to perform spot test

Phage Spot Lysis Test: Phage detection technique

May 30, 2023

A spot test is a technique used to determine the presence and activity of bacteriophages against specific bacterial strains. It involves spotting a small…

Agar Overlay (double layer agar) technique

May 29, 2023

Preparation of an overlay This method creates a homogeneous lawn of bacteria within a thin layer of agar across the surface of a plate….

Bacteriophages isolation and purification

February 7, 2023

Bacteriophages, commonly known as phages, are viruses that infect bacteria. The double agar method is used to isolate and purify phages from various samples,…

Counting phages: Serial dilution technique

February 5, 2023

Bacteriophage serial dilution is a reliable and widely used laboratory technique that enables scientists to accurately determine the concentration of bacteriophages (phages) in a…

Techniques to evaluate bacteriophage killing

January 30, 2023

Bacteriophages are viruses that are particularly reliant on their bacterial hosts’ metabolic activity to copy their genetic material and produce the proteins necessary for…

Schematic image showing the isolation of bacteriophage DNA

The best way to Isolate bacteriophage DNA

January 19, 2023

As someone who has conducted bacteriophage research, I understand how common it is to encounter host DNA contamination when isolating a phage genome. This…