Affiliation:
1. School of Pure and Applied Biology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF1 3TL,1 and
2. Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, National Environment Research Council, Oxford OX1 3SR,2 United Kingdom
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Six phages (ΦCP6-1 to ΦCP6-6) that are commonly found in the phytosphere of sugar beet (
Beta vulgaris
var. Amethyst) were investigated, and their relative impacts on their host (
Serratia liquefaciens
CP6) were compared. There were fundamental differences between the two most abundant predators of CP6 (ΦCP6-1 and ΦCP6-4). Like ΦCP6-2 and ΦCP6-5, ΦCP6-1 belonged to the family
Siphoviridae
, while ΦCP6-4 exhibited the morphology of the family
Podoviridae
. The other phages were members of the family
Myoviridae
. DNA-DNA cross-hybridization revealed that ΦCP6-1 and ΦCP6-4 had little common DNA, although all of the other phages exhibited some genetic similarity. Like ΦCP6-2, ΦCP6-3, and ΦCP6-5, ΦCP6-1 was capable of forming a lysogenic association with its host, while ΦCP6-4 and ΦCP6-6 appeared to be entirely virulent. Single-step growth curve experiments revealed that ΦCP6-4 had a much shorter latent period and a smaller burst size than ΦCP6-1. Also, ΦCP6-1 could transduce a number of host chromosomal markers with transfer frequencies of 2.9 × 10
−9
to 3.9 × 10
−7
, whereas ΦCP6-4 could not transduce
S. liquefaciens
CP6 genes. When viewed in the context of the strikingly different temporal niches of these phages, our data provide an insight into how bacteriophage interactions with their hosts might reflect the natural ecology of bacteriophages. Our data also illustrate how the potential for gene transfer changes over time in an environment that supports several different phages.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
20 articles.
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