title: Characterization of two polyvalent phages infecting Enterobacteriaceae.
abstract: Bacteriophages display remarkable genetic diversity and host specificity. In this study, we explore phages infecting bacterial strains of the Enterobacteriaceae family because of their ability to infect related but distinct hosts. We isolated and characterized two novel virulent phages, SH6 and SH7, using a strain of Shigella flexneri as host bacterium. Morphological and genomic analyses revealed that phage SH6 belongs to the T1virus genus of the Siphoviridae family. Conversely, phage SH7 was classified in the T4virus genus of the Myoviridae family. Phage SH6 had a short latent period of 16 min and a burst size of 103 ± 16 PFU/infected cell while the phage SH7 latent period was 23 min with a much lower burst size of 26 ± 5 PFU/infected cell. Moreover, phage SH6 was sensitive to acidic conditions (pH < 5) while phage SH7 was stable from pH 3 to 11 for 1 hour. Of the 35 bacterial strains tested, SH6 infected its S. flexneri host strain and 8 strains of E. coli. Phage SH7 lysed additionally strains of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Paratyphi, and Shigella dysenteriae. The broader host ranges of these two phages as well as their microbiological properties suggest that they may be useful for controlling bacterial populations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Microorganismes et Biomolécules Actives, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.|Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamdi
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie, et de Bio-informatique and PROTEO, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, and GREB, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Geneviève M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Rousseau
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie, et de Bio-informatique and PROTEO, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, and GREB, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Simon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Labrie
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie, et de Bio-informatique and PROTEO, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, and GREB, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Denise M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Tremblay
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Microorganismes et Biomolécules Actives, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.|Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Rim Saïed
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kourda
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Microorganismes et Biomolécules Actives, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.|Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, 2092 Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ben Slama
authors.affiliation: Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie, et de Bio-informatique and PROTEO, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, and GREB, Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moineau
mesh_terms: D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure / Q000821:virology*; D016679:Genome, Viral; D058507:Host Specificity; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D040901:Proteomics
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides