Pectobacterium Phage Jarilo Displays Broad Host Range and Represents a Novel Genus of Bacteriophages Within the Family .

Soft rot includes the genera and , which are important plant pathogens being responsible for diseases in a wide range of plant species, with potatoes as the main group. Both genera cause pre- and postharvest losses of potatoes, resulting in huge economic losses linked with the soft rot diseases. Organic waste was used to isolate phages, with subsp. DSM 30170 as host. Complete genome sequencing, comparative genomics, and electron microscopy were used to characterize the phage. An adsorption assay was used to estimate adsorption rate. Twenty-three strains from the genera and were used to examine the host range of the phage. Pectobacterium phage Jarilo represents a novel genus of bacteriophages within the family order . Jarilo possesses a double-stranded DNA genome of 40557 bp with a G+C% content of 50.08% and 50 predicted open reading frames. Gene synteny and products seem to be partly conserved between Pectobacterium phage Jarilo and Enterobacteria phage T7, but limited nucleotide similarity is found between Jarilo and other phages within the family The adsorption rate of phage Jarilo increased continuously for 1 h upon infection. Phage Jarilo was not able to infect any strains of and tested with the exception of the strain used for isolation. However, phage Jarilo infected 10 of 16 strains tested. We propose Pectobacterium phage Jarilo as the first member of a new genus of bacteriophages within the family order displaying a broad host range within the genera of