Bacteriophages fEV-1 and fD1 Infect <i>Yersinia pestis</i>

• Main Authors: Mikael Skurnik, Salla Jaakkola, Laura Mattinen, Lotta von Ossowski, Ayesha Nawaz, Maria I. Pajunen, Lotta J. Happonen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Viruses
• Subjects: bacteriophage; <i>Yersinia pestis</i>; dwarf myovirus; myovirus; genome; proteome
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/7/1384

Bacteriophages vB_YpeM_fEV-1 (fEV-1) and vB_YpeM_fD1 (fD1) were isolated from incoming sewage water samples in Turku, Finland, using <i>Yersinia pestis</i> strains EV76 and KIM D27 as enrichment hosts, respectively. Genomic analysis and transmission electron microscopy established that fEV-1 is a novel type of dwarf myovirus, while fD1 is a T4-like myovirus. The genome sizes are 38 and 167 kb, respectively. To date, the morphology and genome sequences of some dwarf myoviruses have been described; however, a proteome characterization such as the one presented here, has currently been lacking for this group of viruses. Notably, fEV-1 is the first dwarf myovirus described for <i>Y. pestis</i>. The host range of fEV-1 was restricted strictly to <i>Y. pestis</i> strains, while that of fD1 also included other members of Enterobacterales such as <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Yersinia pseudotuberculosis</i>. In this study, we present the life cycles, genomes, and proteomes of two <i>Yersinia</i> myoviruses, fEV-1 and fD1.