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Issue: 2026: Natural Sciences Issue - Online First
Section: Natural Sciences Issue (Vietnamese)
DOI: 10.52714/dthu.ns.2979.1915
Date Published: 03/05/2026
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Pham, K. N. H., Luong, Q. D., & Hà, T. K. Q. (2026). Synergistic antibacterial activity of bacteriophage HQ03 and Vĩnh Châu purple shallot (Allium cepa L.) bulb extract against Escherichia coli O10:K5:H4. Dong Thap University Journal of Science, Online First. https://doi.org/10.52714/dthu.ns.2979.1915

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Synergistic antibacterial activity of bacteriophage HQ03 and Vĩnh Châu purple shallot (Allium cepa L.) bulb extract against Escherichia coli O10:K5:H4

Khanh Nguyen Huan Pham1, Quoc Dien Luong2, Thị Kim Quy Hà3,
1 College of Natural Sciences
2 College of Natural Sciences, Can Tho University, Vietnam
3 Đại học Cần Thơ

Main Article Content

Abstract

The combination of bacteriophages (phages) and plant extracts is emerging as a promising alternative to antibiotics. This study aimed to evaluate the synergistic antibacterial activity between bacteriophages and Vĩnh Châu purple shallot (Allium cepa L.) bulb extract against Escherichia coli O10:K5:H4. Bacteriophage Escherichia phage HQ03 was isolated from chicken feces in Can Tho, with a titer of 4.23 × 1011 PFU/mL and specificity against E. coli O10:K5:H4. Genome analysis revealed that HQ03 has a size of 77,367 nt, belongs to the Genus Kuravirus, and shares a close evolutionary relationship with Phage vB_EcoP_SU10 and Escherichia phage 172-1. Ethanol extract from A. cepa bulbs achieved an extraction yield of 2.46% and contains organosulfur, phenolic, and flavonoid compounds. Experimental results showed that when phage HQ03 was combined with A. cepa extract at a concentration of 100 µg/mL, a pronounced synergistic effect was observed with a significant reduction in bacterial density compared to the control. Notably, the inhibitory efficacy showed no significant difference among MOIs (1, 0.1, and 0.01), allowing the use of 100-fold less phage while maintaining similar effectiveness. This study demonstrates the potential of combined phage-plant extract therapy in controlling E. coli infections, opening new applications in the food industry and animal husbandry as a sustainable antibiotic alternative.

Keywords

Allium cepa L., Bacteriophage, Escherichia coli O10:K5:H4, synergistic

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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