Bacteriophages as an alternative for biological control of biofilm-forming .

Salmonellosis is one of the most common foodborne diseases worldwide. Surface adherence and biofilm formation are among the main strategies evolved by to survive under harsh conditions and are risk factors for its spread through the food chain. Owing to the increase in antimicrobial resistance, there is a growing need to develop other methods to control foodborne pathogens, and bacteriophages have been suggested as a potential alternative for this purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate bacteriophages as a biological control of serotypes to inhibit and remove bacterial biofilms. A total of 12 isolates were selected for this study, all of which were biofilm producers. Seven bacteriophages were tested, individually and in a cocktail, for their host range and efficiency of plating (EOP). The phage cocktail was evaluated for its antibiofilm effect against the biofilms. Phages UPF_BP1, UPF_BP2, UPF_BP3, UPF_BP6, and 10:2 possessed a broad lytic spectrum and could infect all strains. Phages 10:2, UPF_BP6, and UPF_BP3 had high EOP in 10, 9, and 9 out of the 12 strains, respectively. The cocktail was able to infect all strains and had a high EOP in 10 out of 12 isolates, presenting a broader host range than any of the tested single phages. A wide variation of inhibition among strains was observed, ranging from 14.72% to 88.53%. Multidrug-resistant and strong biofilm producer strains showed high biofilm inhibition levels by phage cocktail. Our findings demonstrate the ability of the cocktail to prevent biofilm formation and remove formed biofilms of . These results indicate that the phage cocktail is a promising candidate to be used as an alternative for the control of biofilms through surface conditioning.