Open AccessBiodiversity and Classification of Lactococcal Phages
Author(s) -
Hélène Deveau,
Simon J. Labrie,
Marie-Christine Chopin,
Sylvain Moineau
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
applied and environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 324
eISSN - 1070-6291
pISSN - 0099-2240
DOI - 10.1128/aem.02517-05
Subject(s) - lactococcus lactis , lactococcus , biology , bacteria , bacteriophage , microbiology and biotechnology , metagenomics , genome , siphoviridae , computational biology , genetics , gene , escherichia coli , lactic acid
For this study, an in-depth review of the classification ofLactococcus lactis phages was performed. Reference phages as well as unclassified phages from international collections were analyzed by stringent DNA-DNA hybridization studies, electron microscopy observations, and sequence analyses. A new classification scheme for lactococcal phages is proposed that reduces the current 12 groups to 8. However, two new phages (Q54 and 1706), which are unrelated to known lactococcal phages, may belong to new emerging groups. The multiplex PCR method currently used for the rapid identification of phages from the three main lactococcal groups (936, c2, and P335) was improved and tested against the other groups, none of which gave a PCR product, confirming the specificity of this detection tool. However, this method does not detect all members of the highly diverse P335 group. The lactococcal phages characterized here were deposited in the Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses and represent a highly diverse viral community from the dairy environment.