Bacteriophage and bacteriophage cocktails as an effective way to control bacterial contamination in bioprocesses.

Bacterial contaminations, especially those caused by sporulating bacteria, are very difficult to avoid and eradicate in almost any type of processes, especially those, which utilize other microorganisms. In some cases bacterial growth may be suppressed or prevented, but in the processes which are driven by bacteria, and infected by bacteria it may be extremely difficult. In other processes, the suppression of growth of bacterial contaminants may not be possible without use of expensive, and thus not economically justified, antibiotics. This is often the case in industrial biotechnology, where profit margin may be relatively narrow.

We propose to use a bacteriophage or bacteriophages mixes in order to suppress contaminant growth. The method is not only eco-friendly, but the cost of the use of this technology is very low for end user. Bacteriophages can be used in very low concentration, and due to its nature, they will multiply in the presence of contaminant and will effectively suppress its growth. This feature of phages allow to protect relatively large operation using very few resources.