Isolation and characterization of phage (ETP-1) specific to multidrug resistant pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda and its in vivo biocontrol efficacy in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Edwardsiella tarda phage (ETP-1) was isolated from marine fish farm water to characterize its effect against pathogenic multidrug-resistant E. tarda. According to transmission electron microscopy results, ETP-1 is classified as a member of the family Podoviridae. ETP-1 showed MOI dependent E. tarda growth inhibition, a latent period of 60 min, and burst size of 100 PFU per infected cells. In host range tests, five out of eight E. tarda strains were sensitive to ETP-1 which had efficiency of plating index in the range 1-1.28. ETP-1 was stable over a broad range of pH and temperature. The size of the ETP-1 genome was predicted to be approximately 40 kb. Zebrafish exposed to ETP-1 showed no adverse gene responses to the inflammatory mediator cytokines, il1-β, tnf-α, il-6, and il-10, the chemokine, cxcl-8a, and reactive oxygen species, sod-1. When zebrafish were bath exposed to ETP-1 for 12 days and simultaneously challenged with E. tarda (1.08 × 105 CFU fish-1), the survival rate was higher in phage exposed fish (68%) compared to that of the control (18%) until 4 days post challenge. Our results suggest that ETP-1 can be used as a potential bio-therapeutic candidate to control multi-drug resistant E. tarda infection in aquaculture.