Iranian Journal of Medical Microbiology

Backgrounds: Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis) is one of the most important microorganisms used in dairy industry for production of fermented milk products. Bacteriophages which attack  L. lactis are a serious threat to the dairy industry because of their negative effects on fermentation processes.

Methods: Samples of raw milk were examined for the presence of lactococcal bacteriophages. Samples were centrifuged and then filtered through 0.45µm pore size filters. The filtrates were added to early-exponential cultures of Lactococcus lactis subspp. Lactis (PTCC 1336). Overlay method was used to detect the formation of plaques. After isolation and concentration of phages, serial dilutions of phage stock were used to determine titer of phage in concentrated sample. Electron Microscopy was used for observation and characterization of structural details of bacteriophages.

Results: Two phages were isolated one of them had a hexagonal head of 45×30 nm in diameter and a flexible non-contractile tail of 70nm long which belonged to Siphoviridae. The other had a short tail and a hexagonal head of 53×60 nm in diameter which was a member of Podoviridae family.

Conclusion: In this study, for the first time, two phages were isolated from milk. This does not reduce the significance of phage control in different stages of the production. The spread of the phages in the production plant can be very harmful.