The role of phages in food-borne pathogen detection

The applications of bacteriophages have mostly centred on their exploitation as biocontrol agents, and a number of such products designed around food safety have been successfully marketed. An additional significant area of phage research has been their exploitation as tools for the detection of food-borne and water-borne pathogens. Due to their specificity, phage-based systems can prove to be at least as reliable for detection as tools based on immunogenic interactions, and their relatively low propagation costs make them economically competitive options. Phages isolated from food and water can serve as indicators of the presence of pathogens or their products. Assays that take advantage of phages can provide rapid results, and may be quantified by utilizing modern luminescent and/or fluorescent technologies. This chapter discusses recent advances in the area with particular emphasis on Escherichia coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes and Norovirus, and provides a summary of recent advances in phage-based surface plasmon resonance assays.