Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Bacteriophage RpY1 Infecting Ralstonia solanacearum Strains

Ralstonia solanacearum species complex is deleterious plant pathogenic bacteria causing bacterial wilt in the members of solanaceous crops and the bacterial wilt is difficult to control. Bacteriophages-based biocontrol is an environmentally friendly and promising strategy to control bacterial plant diseases. In this study, we isolated 72 phages from the various crop cultivated soils in Korea using five different strains of R. solanacearum. Among 72 phages, phage RpY1 was selected for further study based on the specificity of the targeted host. This phage was identified as a member of Podoviridae with a head measuring 60-70 nm in length and short tail according to the morphology of transmission electron microscopy images. The genome size of phage RpY1 is 43,284 bp with G + C content of 61.4% and 53 open reading frames (ORFs), including 18 annotated ORFs and 35 hypothetical proteins. This phage genome showed no homology to the genome of known phages except for the DU_RP_II phage infecting R. solanacearum; however, the host range of phage RpY1 is much narrower than that of DU_RP_II.

Automated summary

In this study, 72 phages were isolated from various crop cultivated soils in Korea, with phage RpY1 chosen for further investigation due to its specificity for the targeted host. RpY1 was identified as a member of Podoviridae with a head measuring 60-70 nm, a genome size of 43,284 bp, showing no homology to known phages except for DU_RP_II infecting R. solanacearum.