| Abstract: | A method of producing novel bacteriophages with expanded host-range and
bacteriophages with expanded host ranges are disclosed. The method
produces mutant phage strains which are infectious to a second host and
can be more infectious to their natural host than in their natural state.
The method includes repeatedly passaging a selected phage strain into
bacterial cultures that contain varied ratios of its natural host
bacterial strain with a bacterial strain that the phage of interest is
unable to infect; the target-host. After each passage the resulting phage
are purified and screened for activity against the target-host via
double-overlay assays. When mutant phages that are shown to infect the
target-host are discovered, they are further propagated in culture that
contains only the target-host to produce a stock of the resulting mutant
phage. |