Division of Gene Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium.
PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33227. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033227. Epub 2012 Mar 7.
The bacterium 'Dickeya solani', an aggressive biovar 3 variant of Dickeya dianthicola, causes rotting and blackleg in potato. To control this pathogen using bacteriophage therapy, we isolated and characterized two closely related and specific bacteriophages, vB_DsoM_LIMEstone1 and vB_DsoM_LIMEstone2. The LIMEstone phages have a T4-related genome organization and share DNA similarity with Salmonella phage ViI. Microbiological and molecular characterization of the phages deemed them suitable and promising for use in phage therapy. The phages reduced disease incidence and severity on potato tubers in laboratory assays. In addition, in a field trial of potato tubers, when infected with 'Dickeya solani', the experimental phage treatment resulted in a higher yield. These results form the basis for the development of a bacteriophage-based biocontrol of potato plants and tubers as an alternative for the use of antibiotics.
土壤杆菌“Dickeya solani”是致病力强的 Dickeya dianthicola 生物变种 3，会引起马铃薯腐烂和黑胫病。为了利用噬菌体疗法来控制这种病原体，我们分离并鉴定了两种密切相关且具有特异性的噬菌体，即 vB_DsoM_LIMEstone1 和 vB_DsoM_LIMEstone2。LIMEstone 噬菌体具有 T4 相关的基因组结构，与沙门氏菌噬菌体 ViI 具有 DNA 相似性。对噬菌体的微生物学和分子特征分析表明，它们适合且有希望用于噬菌体治疗。噬菌体在实验室试验中减少了马铃薯块茎上疾病的发生率和严重程度。此外，在马铃薯块茎的田间试验中，当感染“Dickeya solani”时，实验噬菌体处理导致产量更高。这些结果为开发基于噬菌体的马铃薯植株和块茎生物防治方法奠定了基础，可作为抗生素使用的替代方法。
