The Novel Telomere Phage vB_YenS_P840 Is Closely Related to PY54, but Reveals Some Striking Differences.

Telomere phages are a small group of temperate phages, whose prophages replicate as a linear plasmid with covalently closed ends. They have been isolated from some and from bacterial species living in aquatic environments. Phage PY54 was the first () telomere phage isolated from a nonpathogenic O:5 strain, but recently a second telomeric phage (vB_YenS_P840) was isolated from a tonsil of a wild boar in Germany.

Phage vB_YenS_P400, a Novel Virulent Siphovirus of Isolated from Deer.

Phage vB_YenS_P400 isolated from deer, is a virulent siphovirus of , whose circularly permutated genome (46,585 bp) is not substantially related to any other phage deposited in public nucleotide databases. vB_YenS_P400 showed a very narrow host range and exclusively lysed two B4/O:3 strains. Moreover, lytic activity by this phage was only discernible at room temperature.

Properties of Two Broad Host Range Phages of Isolated from Wild Animals.

(.) and are important zoonotic agents which can infect both humans and animals. To combat these pathogens, the application of strictly lytic phages may be a promising tool.