A Broad-Spectrum Phage Endolysin (LysCP28) Able to Remove Biofilms and Inactivate Clostridium perfringens Strains.

is a gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium capable of producing four major toxins which cause disease symptoms and pathogenesis in humans and animals. strains carrying enterotoxins can cause food poisoning in humans and are associated with meat consumption. An endolysin, named LysCP28, is encoded by orf28 from bacteriophage BG3P. This protein has an N-terminal glycosyl-hydrolase domain (lysozyme) and a C-terminal SH3 domain. Purified LysCP28 (38.8 kDa) exhibited a broad spectrum of lytic activity against strains (77 of 96 or 80.21%), including A, B, C, and D types, isolated from different sources. Moreover, LysCP28 (10 μg/mL) showed high antimicrobial activity and was able to lyse 2 × 10 CFU/mL ATCC 13124 and J21 (animal origin) within 2 h. Necessary due to this pathogenic bacterium's ability to form biofilms, LysCP28 (18.7 μg/mL) was successfully evaluated as an antibiofilm agent in both biofilm removal and formation inhibition. Finally, to confirm the efficacy of LysCP28 in a food matrix, duck meat was contaminated with and treated with endolysin (100 µg/mL and 50 µg/mL), which reduced viable bacteria by 3.2 and 3.08 units-log, respectively, in 48 h at 4 °C. Overall, the endolysin LysCP28 could potentially be used as a biopreservative to reduce contamination during food processing.