First Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Bacteriophages Infecting Acidovorax citrulli, the Causal Agent of Bacterial Fruit Blotch

Abstract

Bacteriophages of Acidovorax citrulli, the causal agent of bacterial fruit blotch, were isolated from 39 watermelon, pumpkin, and cucumber leaf samples collected from various regions of Korea and tested against 18 A. citrulli strains. Among the six phages isolated, ACP17 forms the largest plaque, and exhibits the morphology of phages in the Myoviridae family with a head diameter of 100 +/- 5 nm and tail length of 150 +/- 5 nm. ACP17 has eclipse and latent periods of 25 +/- 5 min and 50 +/- 5 min, respectively, and a burst size of 120. The genome of ACP17 is 156,281 base pairs with a G + C content of 58.7%, 263 open reading frames, and 4 transfer RNA genes. Blast search and phylogenetic analysis of the major capsid protein showed that ACP17 has limited homology to two Stentrophomonas phages, suggesting that ACP17 is a new type of Myoviridae isolated from A. citrulli.