Still Something to Discover: Novel Insights into <i>Escherichia coli</i> Phage Diversity and Taxonomy
2019
Imke H. E. Korf | Jan P. Meier-Kolthoff | Evelien M. Adriaenssens | Andrew M. Kropinski | Manfred Nimtz | Manfred Rohde | Mark J. van Raaij | Johannes Wittmann
The aim of this study was to gain further insight into the diversity of <i>Escherichia coli</i> phages followed by enhanced work on taxonomic issues in that field. Therefore, we present the genomic characterization and taxonomic classification of 50 bacteriophages against <i>E. coli</i> isolated from various sources, such as manure or sewage. All phages were examined for their host range on a set of different <i>E. coli</i> strains, originating, e.g., from human diagnostic laboratories or poultry farms. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a diversity of morphotypes (70% Myo-, 22% Sipho-, and 8% Podoviruses), and genome sequencing resulted in genomes sizes from ~44 to ~370 kb. Annotation and comparison with databases showed similarities in particular to T4- and T5-like phages, but also to less-known groups. Though various phages against <i>E. coli</i> are already described in literature and databases, we still isolated phages that showed no or only few similarities to other phages, namely phages Goslar, PTXU04, and KWBSE43-6. Genome-based phylogeny and classification of the newly isolated phages using VICTOR resulted in the proposal of new genera and led to an enhanced taxonomic classification of <i>E. coli</i> phages.
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