Isolation, Characterization and Draft Genome Analysis of Bacteriophages Infecting Acidovorax citrulli.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial fruit blotch and seedling blight, caused by Acidovorax citrulli, is one of the most destructive diseases of melon and watermelon in many countries. Pathogen-free seed and cultural practices are major pillars of the disease control. However, use of bacteriophages as natural biocontrol agents might also contribute to the disease management. Therefore, we isolated 12 bacteriophages specific to A. citrulli, from phyllosphere and rhizosphere of diseased watermelon plants. The phage strains were characterized based on their host range, plaque and virion morphology, thermal inactivation point, adsorption rate, one step growth curve, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and genomic analysis. Transmission electron microscopy of three phage strains indicated that

SUBMITTER: Gasic K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8851203 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature