P087, a lactococcal phage with a morphogenesis module similar to an Enterococcus faecalis prophage.

The virulent lactococcal phage P087 was isolated from a dairy environment in 1978. This phage was then recognized as the reference member for one of the ten phage groups currently known to infect Lactococcus lactis strains. The double-stranded DNA genome of this Siphoviridae phage is composed of 60,074 bp and is circularly permuted. Five tRNA and 88 orfs were found within an uncommon genome architecture. Eleven structural proteins were also identified through SDS-PAGE and LC-MS/MS analyses. Of note, 11 translated orfs from the structural module of phage P087 have identities to gene products found in a prophage located in the genome of Enterococcus faecalis V583. The alignment of both genomic sequences suggests that DNA exchanges could occur between these two phages which are infecting low G+C bacteria found in similar ecological niches.