Molecular investigation of two novel bacteriophages of a facultative methylotroph, Raoultella ornithinolytica : first report of Raoultella phages

In this study, two novel phages (ISF3 and ISF6) of a methylotrophicRaoultella strain were isolated from sewage. To characterize the isolated phages, morphological features, protein profiles, restriction digestion patterns, and partial genome sequences were studied. Despite morphological differences, electron microscopy revealed that both phages had an icosahedral capsid connected to a contractile tail, suggesting that ISF3 and ISF6 both belong to the familyMyoviridae. Partial nucleotide sequences of the ISF3 genome showed 99% to 100% identity to DNA ofKlebsiella pneumonia phages KP15, KP27 and BMBT1; however, the restriction digestion profiles of ISF3 genome digested by EcoRI and EcoRV differed from those ofKlebsiella phages KP15 and KP27. A partial sequence alignment showed that ISF6 can be classified as a member of a new viral genus due to its significant differences from other previously identified phages. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation and characterization of the specificRaoultella phages that have potential to be used as new pharmaceuticals againstR. ornithinolytica.
Source: Archives of Virology - Category: Virology Source Type: research