Characterization and identification of bacteriophage isolated from sewage and infected tomato soil

Abstract

G.H. Tan, M.S. Nordin and P.S.H. Tony

Twelve bacteriophages, i.e. P36, P45, P47, P71, P72, P630, P631, P459, P482, P483, P535 and P536 which caused lysis on Ralstonia solanacearum were isolated from sewage and infected tomato soils. These phages were belonged to Myoviridae and Inoviridae family based on their morphology, genome size and protein profile. The Myovirus-type phage contained double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) of around 39,000 bp, while the Inovirus-type phage has single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in the range 6,000 – 7,000 bp. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) profiles indicated that the majority of Ralstonia-phage contains two major structural proteins of 40 kDa and 50 kDa, which is responsible for the protein shell formation of the virus. Three minor structural protein of 30 kDa, 60 kDa and 65 kDa were also involved in the phage assembly. However, the real mechanism of phage assembly on the host cell membrane is still unknown