Expanding the frontiers of bacterial diagnosis through bacteriophage biotechnology

Abstract

In a bid to achieve microbial diagnostic precision and reduce diagnostic turn-around time, the development of technologically advanced,novel techniques has been on the rise. There is a gradual phasing out of traditional diagnostic methods by more specific and highly sensitive molecular techniques. Asides from being technically demanding and cost-ineffective, these molecular methods have themselves not fulfilled perhaps the most essential diagnostic criterion of distinguishing between viable and dead bacterial cells. The use of bacteriophages as biorecognition elements for bacterial detectors offers numerous advantages in terms of cost, ease of accessibility, and high specificity binding of bacteriophages to their bacterial host. Biotechnological advancements further give bacteriophage use the leading edge as genetic modification of bacteriophage genome through the fluorescent gene insertion produces reporter bacteriophages. These recombinants can produce detectable fluorescent signals through intracellular lytic action, strictly in metabolically active bacteria cells. Fluorescent labelled enzyme-active and cell wall binding domains of bacteriophages also offer better alternatives to the use of antibodies as diagnostic markers because they are resistant to pH and temperature sensitivities. Overall, bacteriophage-based detection systems are less prone to detection errors and significantly reduce diagnostic time while also attaining high test sensitivity.