An encapsulated bacteriophage formulation and a method for encapsulating bacteriophages and bacteriophage-related products in polymeric microcapsules is provided. Some embodiments of the method of producing the encapsulated bacteriophages involves a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion.

Disclosed herein are methods for the production of mutant bacteriophages with altered host range. Additionally, disclosed herein are methods and systems for rapid detection of microorganisms such as Listeria spp. in a sample. A genetically modified bacteriophage is also disclosed which comprises an indicator gene in the late gene region. The specificity of the bacteriophage, such as Listeria-specific bacteriophage, allows detection of a specific microorganism, such as Listeria spp. and an indicator signal may be amplified to optimize assay sensitivity.

This invention provides a robust fermentation process for the expression of a capsid protein of a bacteriophage which is forming a VLP by self-assembly, wherein the process is scalable to a commercial production scale and wherein the expression rate of the capsid protein is controlled to obtain improved yield of soluble capsid protein. This is achieved by combining the advantages of fed-batch culture and of lactose induced expression systems with specific process parameters providing improved repression of the promoter during the growth phase and high plasmid retention throughout the process.

A method of recovering viable phage from, for example, a crude phage preparation such as a lysate resulting from amplification of phage in bacterial cell culture is disclosed. The method may be “universal”; that is, applicable to the purification of a broad range of phage species and strains. The phage product resulting from the method may have an acceptably low endotoxin titer (e.g. less than 500 EU/ml) and sufficiently high phage titer (e.g. >1×10.sup.9 PFU/ml) for use in therapeutic applications.

An encapsulated bacteriophage formulation and a method for encapsulating bacteriophages and bacteriophage-related products in polymeric microcapsules is provided. Some embodiments of the method of producing the encapsulated bacteriophages involves a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion.

This invention provides a robust fermentation process for the expression of a capsid protein of a bacteriophage which is forming a VLP by self-assembly, wherein the process is scalable to a commercial production scale and wherein the expression rate of the capsid protein is controlled to obtain improved yield of soluble capsid protein. This is achieved by combining the advantages of fed-batch culture and of lactose induced expression systems with specific process parameters providing improved repression of the promoter during the growth phase and high plasmid retention throughout the process.

An encapsulated bacteriophage formulation and a method for encapsulating bacteriophages and bacteriophage-related products in polymeric microcapsules is provided. Some embodiments of the method of producing the encapsulated bacteriophages involves a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion.

Disclosed herein are methods for the production of mutant bacteriophages with altered host range. Additionally, disclosed herein are methods and systems for rapid detection of microorganisms such as Listeria spp. in a sample. A genetically modified bacteriophage is also disclosed which comprises an indicator gene in the late gene region. The specificity of the bacteriophage, such as Listeria-specific bacteriophage, allows detection of a specific microorganism, such as Listeria spp. and an indicator signal may be amplified to optimize assay sensitivity.

This invention provides a robust fermentation process for the expression of a capsid protein of a bacteriophage which is forming a VLP by self-assembly, wherein the process is scalable to a commercial production scale and wherein the expression rate of the capsid protein is controlled to obtain improved yield of soluble capsid protein. This is achieved by combining the advantages of fed-batch culture and of lactose induced expression systems with specific process parameters providing improved repression of the promoter during the growth phase and high plasmid retention throughout the process.

A method of recovering viable phage from, for example, a crude phage preparation such as a lysate resulting from amplification of phage in bacterial cell culture is disclosed. The method may be universal; that is, applicable to the purification of a broad range of phage species and strains. The phage product resulting from the method may have an acceptably low endotoxin titer (e.g. less than 500 EU/ml) and sufficiently high phage titer (e.g. >1?10.sup.9 PFU/ml) for use in therapeutic applications.