| Summary: | <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> is a bacterial pathogen responsible of listeriosis, a disease that in humans is often related to the contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Phages are candidate biodecontaminants of pathogenic bacteria thanks to their ability to lyse prokaryotes while being safe for eukaryotic cells. In this study, ΦIZSAM-1 was isolated from the drain-waters of an Italian blue cheese plant and showed lytic activity against antimicrobial resistant <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> strains. This phage was subjected to purification and in vitro efficacy tests. The results showed that at multiplicities of infection (MOIs) ≤ 1, phages were able to keep <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> at low optical density values up to 8 h, with bacterial counts ranging from 1.02 to 3.96 log<sub>10</sub> units lower than the control. Besides, ΦIZSAM-1 was further characterized, showing 25 principal proteins (sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile) and a genome of approximately 50 kilo base pairs. Moreover, this study describes a new approach to phage isolation for applications in <i>Listeria</i><i>monocytogenes</i> biocontrol in food production. In particular, the authors believe that the selection of phages from the same environments where pathogens live could represent a new approach to successfully integrating the control measures in an innovative, cost effective, safe and environmentally friendly way.
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