Quantitative PCR of T7 Bacteriophage from Biopanning

This protocol describes the use of quantitative PCR (qPCR) to enumerate T7 phages from phage selection experiments (i.e., "biopanning"). qPCR is a fluorescence-based approach to quantify DNA, and here, it is adapted to quantify phage genomes as a proxy for phage particles. In this protocol, a facile phage DNA preparation method is described using high-temperature heating without additional DNA purification. The method only needs small volumes of heat-treated phages and small volumes of the qPCR reaction. qPCR is high-throughput and fast, able to process and obtain data from a 96-well plate of reactions in 2–4 h. Compared to other phage enumeration approaches, qPCR is more time-efficient. Here, qPCR is used to enumerate T7 phages identified from biopanning against in vitro cystic fibrosis-like mucus model. The qPCR method can be extended to quantify T7 phages from other experiments, including other types of biopanning (e.g., immobilized protein binding, in vivo phage screening) and other sources (e.g., water systems or body fluids). In summary, this protocol can be modified to quantify any DNA-encapsulated viruses.