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Isolation of bacteriophages from air using vacuum filtration technique: an improved and novel method

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Title Isolation of bacteriophages from air using vacuum
filtration technique: an improved and novel method
 
Creator Magare, B
Nair, A
Khairnar, Krishna
 
Subject Environmental Biotechnology
Microbiology
 
Description Aim: Development of a simple and economical air sampler for isolation and
enrichment of bacteriophages from air samples.
Methods and Results: A vacuum filtration unit with simple modifications was
used for isolation of bacteriophages from air sampled in the lavatory. Air was
sampled at the rate of 62 l min�1 by bubbling into Mcllvaine buffer for
30 min, which was used as bacteriophage solution for enrichment and plaque
assessment against individual hosts. Alternatively, the aforementioned phage
solution was enriched using a host consortium before plaque assessment.
Phages were isolated in the range of 1–12 PFU per ml by the first method,
whereas enrichment with host consortium gave phages around 10- to 1000-
folds higher in number. Combining with established enrichment method, an
improvement of about 10 times in phage isolation efficiency was attained.
Conclusions: The method is very useful for studying the natural
bacteriophages of air, requiring only a basic microbiological laboratory setup
making it simple and economical.
Significance and Impact of the Study: This study brings out a simple,
economical air sampler for assessing air bacteriophages that can be employed
by any microbial laboratory. Although various methods are available for
studying bacteriophages in water and soil, very limited are available for air. To
the best of our knowledge, the method developed in this study is unique in its
design and concept for studying bacteriophages in air. The sampler is
sterilizable by autoclaving and maintains a healthy rate of airflow provided by
conventional vacuum pumps. The use of a nonspecific ‘trapping solution’
allows for the qualitative and quantitative study of air bacteriophages.
 
Publisher Wiley
 
Date 2017
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://neeri.csircentral.net/1039/1/jam13551%20%282%29.pdf
Magare, B and Nair, A and Khairnar, Krishna (2017) Isolation of bacteriophages from air using vacuum filtration technique: an improved and novel method. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 123 (4). pp. 896-902. ISSN 1364-5072
 
Relation http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jam.2017.123.issue-4/issuetoc
http://neeri.csircentral.net/1039/