No abstract

Aims: Phage therapy may be the best alternative to antibiotics in poultry. There is a need for optimization of phage production conditions to produce more Escherichia coli specific phages for poultry applications. Methodology: An E. coli λ bacteriophage isolated in our laboratory was used for optimization studies. An optimization of the E. coli λ bacteriophage production process was carried out by conventional methods to identify the factors, and the Thaguchi process was used for the optimization of conditions for increased bacteriophage production. With four factors each at three levels L9, experimental runs were carried out. Results: In the conventional method, 8 factors were studied and 4 selected for statistical optimization by Taguchi. At optimized conditions of modified nutrient broth with 1% glycerol, temperature 37oC, 100 rpm for 12 hours of phage multiplication, an improvement of the final titer was achieved from a control 2x109  to optimized 5x1012 Plauque formation Units (PFU)/mL. Conclusion: Phage production is dependent on bacterial growth and bacteriophage multiplication in bacteria. In such a complicated system, the Thaguchi method will be a convenient method of phage production optimization.

Chicken meat is highly preferred protein food worldwide. To meet the demand, huge poultry farms are established and using antibiotics as prophylaxis and treatment against the bacterial diseases. Uncontrolled usage of antibiotics has led to development of antibiotic resistance in poultry and antibiotic residues in poultry chicken. Fifty one chicken meat samples were collected from various retail outlets. Antibiotic residues were quantified by HPLC, total microbial load was measured by growth of bacteria on growth medium and antibiotic resistant profile of Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter spp was determined by well diffusion method. Except neomycin, all tested antibiotics were present in the range of 10-978 ppm, the average microbial load was in the range log 10 of 7.32 per gram of chicken sample, E. coli, Salmonella spp, Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter spp were resistant to several antibiotics studied. Hence there is a need of appropriate usage of antibiotics in poultry and proper handling of chicken during farming and slaughtering.