Three novel bacteriophages isolated from the East African Rift Valley soda lakes.

Background: Soda lakes are unique environments in terms of their physical characteristics and the biology they harbour. Although well studied with respect to their microbial composition, their viral compositions have not, and consequently few bacteriophages that infect bacteria from haloalkaline environments have been described.

Methods: Bacteria were isolated from sediment samples of lakes Magadi and Shala.