Bacteriophages: A Promising Approach for Bacterial Infections
Bacteriophages FAQ
What does bacteriophage mean?
D’Hérelle coined the term bacteriophage, meaning “bacteria eater,” to describe the agent’s bacteriocidal ability. Bacteriophages also infect the single-celled prokaryotic organisms known as archaea. Thousands of varieties of phages exist, each of which may infect only one type or a few types of bacteria or archaea.
What is a bacteriophage used for?
Bacteriophages are used to control and eliminate bacterial contaminants from food surfaces and food-borne spoilage. Bacteriophages are highly specific, which makes them attractive for sanitization of ready-to-eat foods like milk, vegetables, and meat products.
What is a bacteriophage virus?
A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. In fact, the word "bacteriophage" literally means "bacteria eater," because bacteriophages destroy their host cells. All bacteriophages are composed of a nucleic acid molecule that is surrounded by a protein structure.
How big is a bacteriophage?
They vary in size, and the size is correlated with the genome length (Lavigne et al. 2009 ). A very large known member is bacteriophage G of Bacillus megaterium, with a genome size of nearly 500 kb, several hundred genes, a head domain of 160 nm in diameter, and a tail over 450 nm long (Ageno et al. 1973 ).
What is an example of a bacteriophage?
For example, the proof that DNA was the molecule that transmitted genetic information, the basic mechanisms of gene regulation, and the genetic code, to name but a few, were all discovered using bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are drivers of bacterial evolution in the human microbiome (Level II evidence).
Bacteriophages References
If you want to know more about Bacteriophages, consider exploring links below:
What Is Bacteriophages
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteriophage
- https://www.britannica.com/science/bacteriophage
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493185/
- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/biology-of-viruses/virus-biology/a/bacteriophages
- https://microbenotes.com/bacteriophage/
- https://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/bacteriophage-phage-293/
- https://www.sciencefacts.net/bacteriophage.html
- https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-40598-8_1-1
Bacteriophages Information
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