Isolation and characterization of bacteriophages that inhibit strains of pediococcus damnosus, lactobacillus brevis, and lactobacillus paraplantarum that cause beer spoilage

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize bacteriophages against Pediococcus and Lactobacillus strains that cause spoilage in brewing processes. A number of beer-spoilage bacteria were isolated from breweries and characterized by 16S rRNA typing. Five distinct P. damnosus phages and four Lactobacillus phages, which lysed both L. brevis and L. paraplantarum, were isolated from municipal sewage and farmyard slurries. A rapid DNA isolation method was used to isolate DNA of sufficient purity for restriction endonuclease digestion from de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe (MRS) broth. Phages were analyzed using restriction digest and transmission electron microscopy and shown to be in the family Siphoviridae, with genomes ranging in size from 40 to 50 kb. All phages were characterized and shown to be distinct. This study identifies five novel phages against P. damnosus. Phages for this species are very rare in the scientific literature. Four novel phages against L. brevis and L. paraplantarum are also identified. These phages may have an application in the biocontrol of beer-spoilage bacteria.