Bacteriophage cocktail for biocontrol of soft rot disease caused by Pectobacterium species in Chinese cabbage

In this study, we isolated and characterized two virulent phages (phiPccP-2 and phiPccP-3) to develop a phage cocktail. Morphological and genomic analyses revealed that two phages belonged to theTevenvirinae andMccorquodalevirinae subfamilies, respectively. The phiPccP-2 and phiPccP-3 phages, which have a broad host range, were stable at various environmental conditions, such as various pHs and temperatures and exposure to ultraviolet light. The phage cocktail developed using these two lytic phages inhibited the emergence of phage-resistant bacteria compared to single-phage treatments in in vitro challenge assays. The phage cocktail treatment effectively prevented the development of soft rot symptom in matured Chinese cabbage leaves. Additionally, the phage cocktail comprising three phages (phiPccP-1, phiPccP-2, and phiPccP-3) showed superior biocontrol efficacy against the mixture ofPectobacterium strains in Chinese cabbage seedlings. These results suggest that developing phage cocktails is an effective approach for biocontrol of soft rot disease caused byPectobacterium strains in crops compared to single-phage treatments.Key points•Two newly isolated Pectobacterium phages, phiPccP-2 and phiPccP-3, infected diverse Pectobacterium species and effectively inhibited the emergence of phage-resistant bacteria.•Genomic and physiological analyses suggested that both phiPccP-2 and phiPccP-3 are lytic phages and that their lytic activities are stable in the environmental conditio...
Source: European Journal of Applied Physiology - Category: Physiology Source Type: research