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Biological and Molecular Characterization of the Lytic Bacteriophage SoKa against <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> pv. <i>syringae</i>, Causal Agent of Citrus Blast and Black Pit in Tunisia
oleh: Maroua Oueslati, Dominique Holtappels, Kiandro Fortuna, Mohamed Rabeh Hajlaoui, Rob Lavigne, Najla Sadfi-Zouaoui, Jeroen Wagemans
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2022-09-01 |
Deskripsi
<i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> pv. <i>syringae</i> (Pss), the causal agent of citrus blast and black pit lesion of lemon fruit, continues to cause serious damage in citrus production in Tunisia. Faced with the rapid emergence of the disease and the inefficiency of conventional control methods, an alternative strategy based on the use of bacteriophages was pursued in this study. The lytic Pss bacteriophage SoKa was isolated from soil collected from Tunisian citrus orchards. Analysis of the host range showed that SoKa was able to lyse seven other Pss strains. Interestingly, <i>Pseudomonas syringae</i> pv. <i>porri</i>, pathogenic to leek, could also be infected by SoKa. The activity of SoKa was maintained at pH values between 2 and 10, at temperatures between −80 and 37 °C; the phage could resist UV radiation at an intensity of 320 nm up to 40 min. Whole genome sequencing revealed that the <i>Pseudomonas</i> phage SoKa is a novel phage that belongs to the <i>Bifseptvirus</i> genus of the <i>Autographiviridae</i> family. The absence of virulence proteins and lysogeny-associated proteins encoded on the phage genome, its anti-biofilm activity, and the significant reduction of tissue necrosis in different fruit bioassays make SoKa potentially suitable for use in phage biocontrol.