Three novel Erwinia billingiae phages represent three new genera isolated from organic waste

Abstract

Abstract Despite the ecological significance of viral communities, phages remain understudied. Current genomic databases lack high-quality phage genomes linked to specific bacteria. Bacteria of the Erwinia genus are known to colonize the phyllosphere of plants, both as commensals and pathogens. We isolated three Erwinia billingiae phages; Zoomie, Pecta, and Snitter from organic household waste. Based on sequence similarity to their closest relatives, we propose that they represent three new genera “Pectavirus” within the Zobellviridae family, “Snittervirus” in the subfamily Tempevirinae, family Drexlerviridae, and “Zoomievirus” within the Autographviridae family, which may constitute a yet undefined sub-family together with the genus Limelightvirus.