Broad host range bacteriophages found in rhizosphere soil of a healthy tomato plant in Bulgaria.

The urgent need of research of new approaches to control bacterial disease on economical important crops, focuses our attention on bacteriophages as alternative biocontrol agents. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present the isolation and initial characterization of three bacteriophages (SfXv124t/1, 2 and 3) isolated from rhizosphere soil of a healthy tomato plant in Bulgaria that are capable to lyse three phytopathogenic bacteria. The initial characterization includes determination of: their host range, plaque morphology, optimal storage temperature of pure phage lysates, their sensitivity to UV light, thermal inactivation, optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) and virion morphology.