Citation:
S. Withey, E. Cartmell, L.M. Avery and T. Stephenson, Bacteriophages--potential for application in wastewater treatment processes, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 339, Issues 1-3, 1 March 2005, Pages 1-18.
Abstract:
Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and lyse bacteria. Interest in the
ability of phages to control bacterial populations has extended from medical
applications into the fields of agriculture, aquaculture and the food industry.
Here, the potential application of phage techniques in wastewater treatment
systems to improve effluent and sludge emissions into the environment is
discussed. Phage-mediated bacterial mortality has the potential to influence
treatment performance by controlling the abundance of key functional groups.
Phage treatments have the potential to control environmental wastewater process
problems such as: foaming in activated sludge plants; sludge dewaterability and
digestibility; pathogenic bacteria; and to reduce competition between nuisance
bacteria and functionally important microbial populations. Successful
application of phage therapy to wastewater treatment does though require a
fuller understanding of wastewater microbial community dynamics and
interactions. Strategies to counter host specificity and host cell resistance
must also be developed, as should safety considerations regarding pathogen
emergence through transduction.