Application of a novel phage LPCS28 for biological control of Cronobacter sakazakii in milk and reconstituted powdered infant formula

Geng Zou; Libère Ndayishimiye; Lingxiang Xin; Manshan Cai; Longjian Zhang; Jie Li; Zhiyong Song; Renwei Wu; Yang Zhou; Yuanguo Shi; Yingwang Ye; Rui Zhou; Jinquan Li

doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113214

Application of a novel phage LPCS28 for biological control of Cronobacter sakazakii in milk and reconstituted powdered infant formula

Food Res Int. 2023 Oct:172:113214. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113214. Epub 2023 Jun 30.

Authors

Geng Zou¹, Libère Ndayishimiye¹, Lingxiang Xin², Manshan Cai³, Longjian Zhang¹, Jie Li⁴, Zhiyong Song⁵, Renwei Wu¹, Yang Zhou⁴, Yuanguo Shi⁶, Yingwang Ye⁷, Rui Zhou¹, Jinquan Li⁸

Affiliations

¹ National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, College of Food Science and Technology, College of Biomedicine and Health, Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
² China Institute of Veterinary Drug Control, Beijing 100086, China.
³ Institute of Animal Science, State Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Breeding, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Nutrition, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
⁵ College of Science, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
⁶ Shenzhen Institute of Quality & Safety Inspection and Research, Shenzhen 518000, China.
⁷ School of Food Science and Bioengineering, Hefei University of Technology, Anhui, Hefei 230009, China.
⁸ National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, College of Food Science and Technology, College of Biomedicine and Health, Shenzhen Institute of Nutrition and Health, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China; Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen 518000, China; Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, The Rockefeller University, NY 10065, USA. Electronic address: lijinquan2007@gmail.com.

PMID: 37689848
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113214

Abstract

Contamination of infant formula with Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii) can cause fatal infections in neonates. Phages have emerged as promising antibacterial agents for food safety, but their effectiveness may be limited by thermal processing. In this study, we isolated 27 C. sakazakii phages from environmental water samples and selected LPCS28 due to its broad lysis spectrum. The titer of LPCS28 will not be significantly affected by heating at a temperature of 60 °C for one hour. In both reconstituted powdered infant formula (RPIF) and liquid milk, the pre-added LPCS28, after the thermal processing at 63 °C for 30 min, significantly inhibited the post-contaminated C. sakazakii (10³ CFU/mL) and eventually reduced the number of C. sakazakii to below the limit of detection (<10 CFU/mL) within 9 h at 37 °C and significantly delayed the increase of bacterial concentration in the samples at 23 °C. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that LPCS28 belonged to a new genus, we proposed as Nanhuvirus, under the family Straboviridae. These findings suggest that phage LPCS28 is a promising biological control agent for pathogenic C. sakazakii in the dairy industry.

Keywords: Biological control; Cronobacter sakazakii; Milk; Phage; Powdered infant formula; Thermal processing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Bacteriophages*
Cronobacter sakazakii*
Humans
Infant
Infant Formula
Infant, Newborn
Milk
Phylogeny
Powders

Substances

Powders