A set of 83 lytic dairy bacteriophages (phages) infecting flavor-producing mesophilic starter strains of the Leuconostoc genus was characterized, and the first in-depth taxonomic scheme was established for this phage group. Phages were obtained from different sources, i.e., from dairy samples originating from 11 German dairies (50 Leuconostoc pseudomesenteroides [Ln. pseudomesenteroides] phages...

The natural mummification process of the human gut represents a unique opportunity to study the resulting microbial community structure and composition. While results are providing insights into the preservation of bacteria, fungi, pathogenic eukaryotes and eukaryotic viruses, no studies have demonstrated that the process of natural mummification also results in the preservation of bacteriophag...

Background: The potential of Streptococcus mutans for biofilm formation makes it one the main organisms causing dental caries. Various preventive strategies have been applied to reduce tooth decay. Objectives: In current study, we aimed isolate S. bacteriophages from sewage and investigate their effects on expression genes involved in bacterial Methods: Eighty-one plaque samples were collected....

AIMS To isolate and characterize bacteriophages, and to evaluate its lytic performance against avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strains with high patterns of antibiotic resistance, in order to select phages for a therapeutic product to treat colibacillosis in chickens. METHODS AND RESULTS Bacteriophages were isolated from poultry sewage and tested against 148 O-serotyped APEC strains....

The tail of Caudovirales bacteriophages serves as an adsorption device, a host cell wall-perforating machine, and a genome delivery pathway. In Siphoviridae, the assembly of the long and flexible tail is a highly cooperative and regulated process that is initiated from the proteins forming the distal tail tip complex. In Gram-positive-bacterium-infecting siphophages, the distal tail (Dit) prote...

In this review, we are listing Lactobacillus phages that have been reported in peer-reviewed articles published since 1960. Putative phages that are defective or have not been shown to be infectious, such as phage-like particles, are not discussed. Our literature searches led to the identification of 231 Lactobacillus phages, 186 of which have been observed by electron microscopy, with 109 belo...

The Siphoviridae coliphage T5 differs from other members of this family by the size of its genome (121 kbp) and by its large icosahedral capsid (90 nm), which is organized with T=13 geometry. T5 does not encode a separate scaffolding protein, but its head protein, pb8, contains a 159-residue aminoterminal scaffolding domain (Delta domain) that is the mature capsid. We have deciphered the early ...

Phages play key roles in the pathogenicity and adaptation of the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. However, little is known about the molecular recognition events that mediate phage adsorption to the surface of S. aureus. The lysogenic siphophage ϕ11 infects S. aureus SA113. It was shown previously that ϕ11 requires α- or β-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) moieties on cell wall teichoic acid (W...

We describe two prolonged bacteriophage blooms within sugar beet rhizospheres ensuing from an artificial increase in numbers of an indigenous soil bacterium. Further, we provide evidence of in situ competition between these phages. This is the first in situ demonstration of such microbial interactions in soil. To achieve this, sugar beet seeds were inoculated with Serratia liquefaciens CP6RS or...