Isolation and Characterization of Two Lytic Phages Efficient Against Phytopathogenic Bacteria From and Genera.

is a bacterial pathogen that causes yield losses in various economically important plant species. At the same time, pv. () is one of the best-studied bacterial phytopathogens and a popular model organism. In this study, we report on the isolation of two phages from the market-bought pepper fruit showing symptoms of bacterial speck. These phages were named Eir4 and Eisa9 and characterized using traditional microbiological methods and whole-genome sequencing followed by various bioinformatics approaches. Both of the isolated phages were capable only of the lytic life cycle and were efficient against several pathovars from and genera. With the combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) virion morphology inspection and comparative genomics analyses, both of the phages were classified as members of the family with different degrees of novelty within the known phage diversity. Eir4, but not Eisa9, phage application significantly decreased the propagation of in the leaf tissues of plants. The biological properties of Eir4 phage allow us to propose it as a potential biocontrol agent for use in the prevention of -associated bacterioses and also as a model organism for the future research of mechanisms of phage-host interactions in different plant systems.