Abstract

In this study, three bacteriophages BHDT3, BHDT4, and BHDT8 specific to Pseudomonas solanacearum causing bacterial wilt in tomatoes were isolated. All three phages possessed Podovirus-like morphology and were classified as members of the Autographiviridae family, according to morphological analysis. The latent period and burst size of BHDT3, BHDT4, and BHDT8 were found to be approximately 205, 235, 160 min and 12 ± 1.7, 17 ± 2.7, 45 ± 5.4 virions per infected cell, respectively. Among three phages, BHDT8 showed the highest capacity in inactivation of P. solanacearum in vitro for 52 h in broth. The genome of BHDT8 was 41,298 bp with a total GC content of 62% and contains 47 predicted protein-encoding CDSs. The absence of virulence or antibiotic resistance genes in the genome suggested that the phage would be an effective and safe biocontrol agent against P. solanacearum in tomato.

Key words: bacteriophage; tomato; lytic activity; safety; genome analysis.