Bacteriophage production processes

High quantities of bacteriophages are currently used in the food industry and agriculture. However, growing antibiotic resistance of bacteria has recently awakened the interest to use bacteriophages for the treatment of bacterial infections in humans indicating that even higher quantities will be required in the future. High demand combined with a wide range of applications requires also efficient bacteriophage production processes operating at low production costs and with high productivity. To achieve this goal, different approaches were introduced and extensive studies of various parameters affecting bacteriophage formation were investigated. In this mini-review, we provide a short overview about different operation modes of bacteriophage production such as batch, semi-continuous and especially continuous with the pros and cons of each. We present factors affecting bacterial physiological state, its effect on phage formation and provide a description of methods for determination of bacteriophage growth parameters, through which bacteriophage formation is obtained. Understanding of described phenomena and inclusion of potential occurrence of mutations and selection in continuous systems enables evaluation of continuous process productivity and its optimization.