title: A novel Halomonas ventosae-specific virulent halovirus isolated from the Qiaohou salt mine in Yunnan, Southwest China.
abstract: Although Halomonas phages belonging to the families Myoviridae and Siphoviridae have been reported, no virulent Halomonas siphoviruses are known. In this study, a virulent bacteriophage, QHHSV-1, of the family Siphoviridae that specifically infects H. ventosae QH52-2 was isolated from the Qiaohou salt mine. Restriction analysis indicated that QHHSV-1 is a dsDNA virus with a genome size of 33.5-39.5 kb. Transmission electron microscopy showed that QHHSV-1 is a typical representative of the Siphoviridae, with an icosahedral head (47 nm in diameter) and a non-contractile tail (75 nm in length). We also assessed the adsorption rate of QHHSV-1 for the host bacterium and found significant inhibition after the addition of 10 mM CaCl2. Based on a one-step growth curve, we determined a latent period of 30 min and a burst size of 73 PFU/infected cell. At the optimal pH of 8.0, 25.9 and 15.2 % of the phages survived after a 60-min incubation at 50 and 60 °C, respectively. Phage replication was possible at a wide range of salt concentrations, from 2.0 to 20 % (w/v), with an optimum concentration of 5 %. The survival of QHHSV-1 at different salt concentrations decreased with time and 25 % survival after 25 days at 30 % salt concentration.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chao-Qun
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Ying
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Xia
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Engineering Laboratory of Soil Fertility and Pollution Remediation, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650201, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shi-Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China. weixiao@ynu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Microbial Diversity in Southwest China, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, 650091, People's Republic of China. xlcui@ynu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiao-Long
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D020632:Halomonas / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology*; D058507:Host Specificity; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D017906:Siphoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D014779:Virus Replication
keywords: Halomonas; Halophile; Halovirus; Isolation and characterization; Salt mine; Siphovirus