General information:
What are coliphage viruses?
Somatic coliphages are bacteriophages of enteric origin that infect Escherichia coli via cell surface receptors. They are the most widespread biological forms on Earth, estimated at ~ 10^31 particles in the biosphere. Somatic coliphages in a water sample indicate fecal contamination of human or animal origin.
Why should we test for coliphages?
Bacteriophages tend to persist in the environment and are moderately resistant to natural and anthropogenic stressors. They can only reproduce inside susceptible bacterial hosts. Many viruses are present in fecal-contaminated water, including norovirus, VHA, rotavirus, and adenovirus. Coliphages are used as fecal indicators because they mimic enteric viruses better than any other group of indicators and meet all conditions, showing persistence in the aquatic environment even after purification.
Features and benefits:
Bluephage Easy is a kit for the detection and enumeration of somatic coliphages, according to ISO 10705-2 - double layer agar (DAL) method. The ready-to-use, "all-in-one" kit contains all the consumables and biological materials needed to perform 70 assays, including specific lyophilized cells of a host strain (E.coli WG5) that is ready for use after 120-150 minutes of incubation.
The method is applicable to raw and treated wastewater, surface water, shellfish extracts, sediments and sludge extracts (after dilution where necessary).
The main advantage of using it is the availability of ready to use working cultures that save time.
Working principle:
The sample is mixed with a small volume of semi-solid culture medium. A culture of the host strain is added and inoculated onto a solid medium. Incubation is then performed. Results are expressed as the number of plaque-forming particles, pfp (also called plaque-forming units, pfu), per unit sample volume.
The kit includes:
10 x E.coli strain WG5
10 x Modified Scholten's Broth (MSB)
10 x Semi-solid Modified Scholten's Agar (ssMSA) with nalidixic acid
3 x Calcium chloride 1.0 M
5 x Bacteriophage фх174
5 x Blank (negative control)
70 x Tube 10 ml
Additional material not provided in the kit:
70 x Sterile Petri dishes
1 x Modified Scholten's agar power media
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