Isolation and Characterization of A Bacillus Phage from Equine Carcass Disposal Site.

Abstract

Bacteriophages play an important role in bacterial control in natural niche however a little is known about Bacillus sp. phages prevailing in cadaver affected soils. In the current study, the Bacillus sp. phage was isolated from the equine cadaver disposal site and characterised to gain an insight into the issue of role of phages in biological dynamics of manure thus formed over years. Firstly, the host bacterium was isolated and identified as Bacillus cereus group member as assessed by phylogenetic analysis and secondly it’s corresponding phage from same soil sample was also enriched and characterised. The phage (VTCCBPA38) was found to belong to family Myoviridae and was active within the temperature range of 4 °C - 45 °C. As assessed by biological sensitivity by spot test, the phage was active against 6/19 (31.6 %) Bacilli tested including Bacillus cereus from goat mastitis. Thus the phage may find potential use in biocontrol of diseases caused by Bacillus sp. Furthermore, this report is valuable as the first study for investigation of Bacillus sp. phage in carcass burial sites.