Isolation and characterization of Salmonella enteritidis bacteriophage Salmp-p7 isolated from slaughterhouse effluent and its application in food

Salmonella enteritidis is one of the most common pathogens that cause foodborne outbreaks and food spoilage, which seriously threatens human health. In this study, Salmonella enteritidis bacteriophage Salmp-p7 was isolated and characterized from slaughterhouse wastewater. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that Salmp-p7 belonged to the Siphoviridae family and was active against Salmonella enteritidis and Escherichia coli . Whole genome sequence analysis showed that Salmp-p7 was a lytic bacteriophage with a total length of 60066 bp. In vitro, antimicrobial curves and inhibition of biofilm removal experiments showed that Salmp-p7 could effectively inhibit and eliminate Salmonella enteritidis. The application of Salmp-p7 to the whole liquid of infected eggs resulted in a significant reduction of viable bacteria in the egg liquid. In conclusion, the bacteriophage Salmp-p7 has high stability and lytic activity and has the potential to become a new biological control agent for Salmonella enteritidis in eggs.