Abstract
Antimicrobial property has been the reason for investigation in several
plants and microorganisms. The health issues and environmental hazards defined by
the extensive use of chemical antimicrobials have become a buried fact due to the
emergence of bio-based antimicrobial agents. Considering the impact of chemical
antimicrobials on the environment, many natural antimicrobial agents have been
formulated and recommended for application in food systems. Several food-borne
outbreaks are associated with the intake of marine foods and are highly linked with
harmful microbial pathogens. Marine bacterial pathogens have been extensively
reported for several outbreaks in the last few decades. Vibriosis is the most devastating
disease faced by marine organisms. The associated pathogens have also been
channelized to humans through seafood consumption. There also exist some deadly
bacterial pathogens in marine environments, which are responsible for huge economic
losses in seafood processing sectors. It is high time to mitigate this bacterial jeopardy.
The extended anthropogenic activity on the coastal lines has also increased the
virulence of these bacterial pathogens by inducing multidrug resistance. Based on
several reports in the pre and post-antibiotic era, phage therapy is revitalised to
overcome the limitations encountered in antibiotic therapy. Marine bacteriophages are
documented as abundantly available viruses in the marine environment. Their
ubiquitous and inevitable nature can be utilized to engage them as natural antimicrobial
agents from the marine environment and its allied sources. This chapter summarized
the feasibility of employing bacterial viruses from the marine environment as natural
antimicrobial agents with proper evidence from the past
Keywords: Antibiotic resistance, Antimicrobial agent, Aquaculture, Application, Bacterial pathogen, Bacterial viruses, Bacteriophages, Biocontrol agent, Food safety, Formulation, Gut microbiome, Intra-body phageome, Lytic cycle, Multi-drug resistant, Preservative, Phage therapy, Phage resistance, Seafood, Temperate phage.