title: Diversity of tailed phages in Baltic Sea sediment: large number of siphoviruses with extremely long tails.
abstract: We present the first attempt at quantitative analysis of morphological diversity of tailed viruses obtained from marine sediments without ultracentrifugation or enrichment on specific host strains. Sandy mud samples were collected in the Gulf of Gdańsk in the spring, autumn and winter. VLPs were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. The distribution of three groups of tailed phages was similar in all seasons (Siphoviridae: 52% on average; Myoviridae: 42%; Podoviridae: 6%). 19% of siphoviruses had prolate heads. Interestingly, 11% of siphoviral particles had tails longer than 300 nm, and 6% longer than 600 nm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland. mjakubowska@iopan.gda.pl
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakubowska-Deredas
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jurczak-Kurek
authors.forename: Malwina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richert
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Łoś
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Narajczyk
authors.forename: Borys
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wróbel
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D044822:Biodiversity; D017899:Caudovirales / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000821:virology*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010802:Phylogeny; D011044:Poland; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000821:virology; D056224:Viral Structures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure