A Novel Group of Promiscuous Podophages Infecting Diverse Gammaproteobacteria from River Communities Exhibits Dynamic Intergenus Host Adaptation.

ABSTRACT: Phages are generally described as species specific or even strain specific, implying an inherent limitation for some to be maintained and spread in diverse bacterial communities. Moreover, phage isolation and host range determination rarely consider the phage ecological context, likely biasing our notion on phage specificity. Here we isolated and characterized a novel group of six promiscuous phages, named Atoyac, existing in rivers and sewage by using a diverse collection of over 600 bacteria retrieved from the same environments as potential hosts. These podophages isolated from different regions in Mexico display a remarkably broad host range, infecting bacteria from six genera: Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Yersinia, Hafnia, Escherichia, and Serratia

SUBMITTER: Cazares D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7857530 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature