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Characterization of filamentous bacteriophage PE226 infecting Ralstonia solanacearum strains
Author(s) -
Murugaiyan S.,
Bae J.Y.,
Wu J.,
Lee S.D.,
Um H.Y.,
Choi H.K.,
Chung E.,
Lee J.H.,
Lee S.W.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2010.04882.x
Subject(s) - ralstonia solanacearum , biology , genome , lytic cycle , bacteriophage , microbiology and biotechnology , bacterial wilt , lysogenic cycle , genetics , gene , virology , escherichia coli , virus , pathogen
Aims: The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize new bacteriophages that infect a wide range of plant pathogenic Ralstonia solanacearum strains. Methods and Results: Fifteen bacteriophages were isolated from pepper, tomato and tobacco plant rhizospheres infected with R. solanacearum. A host specificity analysis of the isolated phages using nine strains of R. solanacearum indicated great phage diversity in a single soil. Two phages, PE226 and TM227, showed clear plaques on all nine bacterial hosts tested and were virtually identical in morphology and genome. PE226, an Inovirus, is a long, flexible, filamentous phage carrying a circular (+) sense single‐strand DNA genome of 5475 nucleotides. DNA sequences of PE226 exhibited nine open reading frames (ORF) that were not highly similar to those of other phages infecting R. solanacearum . The genome organization of PE226 was partially similar to that of p12J of Ralstonia pickettii . One ORF of PE226 showed identity to the zot gene encoding zonula occludens toxin of Vibrio cholera . Orf7 of PE226 was also present in the genome of R. solanacearum strain SL341. However, SL341, a highly virulent strain in tomato, was still sensitive to phage PE226. Conclusions: A new, flexible, filamentous phage PE226 infected wide range of R. solanacearum strains and carried unique circular single‐strand DNA genome with an ORF encoding Zot‐like protein. Significance and Impact of the Study: PE226 may be a new type of temperate phage, based on its lytic nature on a wide range of hosts and the presence of a zot homologue in a host bacterial genome.