Phage viability in organic media: insights into phage stability

Abstract

The stability of the filamentous phages derived from phagemid pG8H6 has been examined in a range of solvents and solvent mixtures. The results show an enhanced capacity to infect E. coli after exposure to various organic solvent-water mixtures. The dependence of stability upon solvent hydrophobicity was demonstrated. Furthermore, conditions have been identified which should allow the application of phage display libraries based upon pG8H6 in organic media.