US4218534A — Phage detection

Claim 1

Independent Claim 165 words

A method for selecting a cheese starter culture resistant to the bacteriophage currently present in a cheese factory comprising the steps of, preparing a multiplicity of test samples of different strains or blends of starter cultures differing one from another and corresponding to the cultures available to the cheesemaker, each sample being in a sterile medium to which has been added a pH indicator dye which changes color in response to acid production in the curd forming process, adding to each test sample an inoculant containing phage then present in the cheese factory, incubating the test samples for a period of time sufficient for acid production and curd formation, determining which of the incubated test samples has changed color indicative of acid production and has developed satisfactory curd to thereby indicate resistance to the phage present in the inoculant, and selecting for use as a starter culture in production of cheese at least one phage resistant culture from those determined satisfactory in the preceding step.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 165 words

A method for selecting a cheese starter culture resistant to the bacteriophage currently present in a cheese factory comprising the steps of, preparing a multiplicity of test samples of different strains or blends of starter cultures differing one from another and corresponding to the cultures available to the cheesemaker, each sample being in a sterile medium to which has been added a pH indicator dye which changes color in response to acid production in the curd forming process, adding to each test sample an inoculant containing phage then present in the cheese factory, incubating the test samples for a period of time sufficient for acid production and curd formation, determining which of the incubated test samples has changed color indicative of acid production and has developed satisfactory curd to thereby indicate resistance to the phage present in the inoculant, and selecting for use as a starter culture in production of cheese at least one phage resistant culture from those determined satisfactory in the preceding step.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 1 in which the inoculant is whey taken from current cheese production.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 34 words

The method of claim 2 in which the dye is a pH indicator dye, the sterile medium is reconstituted non-fat milk, and the test culture includes both fast and slow strains of S. cremoris.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 3 in which the selected starter culture contains more than one culture strain.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 25 words

The method of claim 4 in which the starter cultures making up the test samples are genetically distinct cultures of S. lactis and S. cremoris.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 5 in which the selected starter culture is a blend of said cultures.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 29 words

The method of claim 6 in which the test samples include both fast and slow strains of S. cremoris and the selected culture includes both fast and slow strains.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 3 in which each test sample includes the culture in a sterile milk medium containing said dye and the whey is added thereto.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 43 words

The method of claim 3 in which each test sample contains freeze dried non-fat milk and the culture, the milk being reconstituted by addition of sterile water, the whey being added to the test sample separately or in combination with the sterile water.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 141 words

Apparatus for testing different strains or blends of cheese starter cultures for resistance to the bacteriophage present in a cheese factory, comprising tray means having a multiplicity of sealed test tubes, each test tube containing a dye, a culture medium and a culture different from the other cultures, each sealed test tube having means for introduction of an inoculant, said dye being a pH indicator dye which changes color in response to lactic acid development by reason of culture growth in the medium after the medium has been inoculated with a liquid inoculant solution containing phage present in the factory and then incubated, lack of color change in a culture indicating phage susceptibility of the culture and a desired color change indicating phage resistance of the culture whereby a usable culture may be selected from those exhibiting the desired color change.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 141 words

Apparatus for testing different strains or blends of cheese starter cultures for resistance to the bacteriophage present in a cheese factory, comprising tray means having a multiplicity of sealed test tubes, each test tube containing a dye, a culture medium and a culture different from the other cultures, each sealed test tube having means for introduction of an inoculant, said dye being a pH indicator dye which changes color in response to lactic acid development by reason of culture growth in the medium after the medium has been inoculated with a liquid inoculant solution containing phage present in the factory and then incubated, lack of color change in a culture indicating phage susceptibility of the culture and a desired color change indicating phage resistance of the culture whereby a usable culture may be selected from those exhibiting the desired color change.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 15 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the culture medium is sterile non-fat dried milk.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 25 words

Apparatus according to claim 11 in which the medium and the test culture are freeze dried and are reconstituted by later addition of sterile water.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 36 words

Apparatus according to claim 10 in which there are a multiplicity of test tubes containing genetically distinct cultures strains of S. lactis and a multiplicity of test tubes containing genetically distinct culture strains of S. cremoris.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 26 words

Apparatus according to claim 13 in which there are a multiplicity of fast S. cremoris culture strains and a multiplicity of slow S. cremoris culture strains.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 31 words

Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the S. lactis cultures are separately grouped in the tray means as are the fast S. cremoris cultures and the slow S. cremoris cultures.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 30 words

Apparatus according to claim 15 including indicia associated with each test tube serving to identify the respective cultures adequately for the user to select corresponding cultures from his culture inventory.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 24 words

Apparatus according to claim 15 including flotation means for supporting the tray means in an incubating bath with the test tubes in the bath.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1983-08-19	1984-02-18	1984-08-19	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1987-08-19	1988-02-18	1988-08-19	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1991-08-19	1992-02-18	1992-08-19	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Phage detection

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