-Researchers have identified a new bacteriophage that can infect and destroy bacteria in the genus Pantoea, for which few bacteriophage have been identified and characterized. Details of the isolation, characterization, and full genome sequencing of this new bacteriophage are published in the new Genome Introduction section of PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research, a new peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the PHAGE website through February 27, 2020.
The article entitled "Isolation and Characterization of vB_PagP-SK1, a T7-Like Phage Infecting Pantoea agglomerans." was coauthored by John Stavrinides, University of Regina (Canada) and colleagues from University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand), Roy Romanow Provincial laboratory (Regina, Canada), and Cadham Provincial Laboratory (Winnipeg, Canada).
Members of the Pantoea genus can cause disease in plant and animal hosts, as well as opportunistic infections in humans. The researchers showed the new bacteriophage vB_PagP-SK1 to have a broad host range, capable of infecting 15 strains of Pantoea across three species groups - primarily P. agglomerans - together with one strain of Erwinia billingiae. vB-PagP-SK1 belongs to the Teseptimavirus genus and is most closely related to the E. amylovora phage vB_EamP-L1.
"The first Genome Introduction describes the isolation and characterization of a novel bacteriophage (vB_PagP-SK1)," states Dr. Andrew Millard, Section Editor of PHAGE and University of Leicester, U.K. "Utilizing a novel high throughput microplate assay for host range studies, the phage vB_PagP-SK1 was shown to infect multiple species within the genus Pantoea and Erwinia. Combined with genomic data, it demonstrated that genetically similar bacteriophages can have different host ranges."
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PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research
