Evaluation of the Antimicrobial Potential and Characterization of Novel T7-Like <i>Erwinia</i> Bacteriophages

The recent outbreak of blight in pome fruit plants has been a major concern as there are two indistinguishable <i>Erwinia</i> species, <i>Erwinia amylovora</i> and <i>E. pyrifoliae</i>, which cause blight in South Korea. Although there is a strict management proto...

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Main Authors: Su Jin Jo, Sang Guen Kim, Young Min Lee, Sib Sankar Giri, Jeong Woo Kang, Sung Bin Lee, Won Joon Jung, Mae Hyun Hwang, Jaehong Park, Chi Cheng, Eunjung Roh, Se Chang Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Biology
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/2/180
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Summary:The recent outbreak of blight in pome fruit plants has been a major concern as there are two indistinguishable <i>Erwinia</i> species, <i>Erwinia amylovora</i> and <i>E. pyrifoliae</i>, which cause blight in South Korea. Although there is a strict management protocol consisting of antibiotic-based prevention, the area and the number of cases of outbreaks have increased. In this study, we isolated four bacteriophages, pEp_SNUABM_03, 04, 11, and 12, that infect both <i>E. amylovora</i> and <i>E. pyrifoliae</i> and evaluated their potential as antimicrobial agents for administration against <i>Erwinia</i>-originated blight in South Korea. Morphological analysis revealed that all phages had podovirus-like capsids. The phage cocktail showed a broad spectrum of infectivity, infecting 98.91% of <i>E. amylovora</i> and 100% of <i>E. pyrifoliae</i> strains. The antibacterial effect was observed after long-term cocktail treatment against <i>E. amylovora</i>, whereas it was observed for both short- and long-term treatments against <i>E. pyrifoliae</i>. Genomic analysis verified that the phages did not encode harmful genes such as antibiotic resistance or virulence genes. All phages were stable under general orchard conditions. Collectively, we provided basic data on the potential of phages as biocontrol agents that target both <i>E. amylovora</i> and <i>E. pyrifoliae.</i>
ISSN:2079-7737