

@article {7929,
	title = {{Persistence of infectious Shiga toxin-encoding bacteriophages after disinfection treatments.}},
	journal = {Applied and Environmental Microbiology},
	volume = {80},
	number = {7},
	year = {2014},
	month = {apr},
	pages = {2142{\textendash}9},
	abstract = {<p>In Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), induction of Shiga toxin-encoding bacteriophages (Stx phages) causes the release of free phages that can later be found in the environment. The ability of Stx phages to survive different inactivation conditions determines their prevalence in the environment, the risk of stx transduction, and the generation of new STEC strains. We evaluated the infectivity and genomes of two Stx phages ($\Phi$534 and $\Phi$557) under different conditions. Infectious Stx phages were stable at 4, 22, and 37\&deg;C and at pH 7 and 9 after 1 month of storage but were completely inactivated at pH 3. Infective Stx phages decreased moderately when treated with UV (2.2-log10 reduction for an estimated UV dose of 178.2 mJ/cm(2)) or after treatment at 60 and 68\&deg;C for 60 min (2.2- and 2.5-log10 reductions, respectively) and were highly inactivated (3 log10) by 10 ppm of chlorine in 1 min. Assays in a mesocosm showed lower inactivation of all microorganisms in winter than in summer. The number of Stx phage genomes did not decrease significantly in most cases, and STEC inactivation was higher than phage inactivation under all conditions. Moreover, Stx phages retained the ability to lysogenize E. coli after some of the treatments.</p>
},
	issn = {1098-5336},
	doi = {10.1128/AEM.04006-13},
	url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24463973},
	author = {Allu{\'e}-Guardia, Anna and Mart{\'\i}nez-Castillo, Alexandre and Muniesa, Maite}
}
