Bacteriocins and Bacteriophages as Dual Biological Players for Food Safety Applications

Abstract

The development of new techniques for the control of pathogenic microorganisms during food production and for the prevention of spoilage are needed to reduce or replace chemical preservatives. This is due to the trend that consumers are increasingly questioning the use of chemical preservatives because of the many health concerns. Because of this issue, bacteriocins and bacteriophages are increasingly viewed as safe natural preservatives with a long history of various applications during food production and preservation. This minireview considers applications of these two antimicrobials, highlights their mode of action, lists their advantages and, when necessary, their limitations. It also reports recent advances in the use of bacteriophages and bacteriocins either alone or in combination in different food matrices. The incentives and effectiveness offered by these antimicrobials in the field of biopreservation are considered for future applications during food production and preservation.

Xylella phage MATE 2: a novel bacteriophage with potent lytic activity against Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca

“…In our instance, genomic analysis revealed that MATE 2 possesses an endolysin ( Figure 2 ), which can also be used against Xf. Furthermore, recent findings showed that phages exhibit anti-biofilm properties against various pathogenic bacteria, including Escherichia coli , Enterococcus faecium , and Enterococcus faecalis ( Melo et al, 2019 ; Chaudhary et al, 2022 ), as well as the capacity to act synergistically with other natural antimicrobials, such as bacteriocins and natural antimicrobial peptides ( Barache et al, 2024 ). These findings encourages the exploration of MATE 2’s efficacy and its endolysin against Xf biofilm within the plant vascular system and their potential synergies with existing therapeutic agents to develop a more robust and integrated Xf disease control strategy.…”