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The first single-stranded DNA virus targeting Pectobacterium belongs to the family Microviridae and demonstrates a broad host range to Pectobacterium brasiliense soft rot pathogens

Pedersen, Julie Stenberg ; Carstens, Alexander Byth ; Rothgardt, Magnus ; Viry, Anouk ; Hille, Frank ; Franz, Charles M A P ; Kot, Witold ; Egorov, Artyom LU orcid ; Atkinson, Gemma LU orcid and Hansen, Lars Hestbjerg (2026) In Archives of Virology 171(3). p.1-14
Abstract

UNLABELLED:
Pectobacterium brasiliense (
Pbr) is known to be one of the most virulent
Pectobacterium species and is generally widely distributed across the globe, especially known for causing soft rot in potato-tubers and black leg in potato-plants. Currently no treatment mechanism exists, and many studies have focused on alternative treatment approaches such as biocontrol agents. Several studies have used phages targeting
Pectobacterium species as effective biocontrol agents. This study is the first description of a single-stranded DNA phage belonging to the family
Microviridaethat targets
Pectobacterium. The novel Pectobacterium phage Mimer is proposed to belong to a new genus within the subfamily... (More)

UNLABELLED:
Pectobacterium brasiliense (
Pbr) is known to be one of the most virulent
Pectobacterium species and is generally widely distributed across the globe, especially known for causing soft rot in potato-tubers and black leg in potato-plants. Currently no treatment mechanism exists, and many studies have focused on alternative treatment approaches such as biocontrol agents. Several studies have used phages targeting
Pectobacterium species as effective biocontrol agents. This study is the first description of a single-stranded DNA phage belonging to the family
Microviridaethat targets
Pectobacterium. The novel Pectobacterium phage Mimer is proposed to belong to a new genus within the subfamily
Bullavirinae in the family
Microviridae. Phage Mimer has a genome size of 5879 nt with twelve predicted gene products. Seven out of twelve gene products could be assigned with a function based on either amino acid sequence or structural similarity. Gene synteny and phylogenetic analyses suggest that phage Mimer is part of the subfamily
Bullavirinae. Phage Mimer proved to infect a broad range of
Pbr isolates but showed a poor adsorption rate as only 17% of phage particles adsorbed within 10 min on the isolation host. Growth kinetics showed phage Mimer to have a latent period of 65 min and an average burst size of approximately 79 virions per cell. Phage Mimer is the first ssDNA phage targeting Pectobacterium and could be a promising biocontrol agent with great therapeutic potential, based on both the small genome size and the well-known genome architecture of model phage phiX174.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00705-026-06543-2.

(Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Archives of Virology
volume
171
issue
3
article number
97
pages
1 - 14
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • pmid:41739249
  • scopus:105031190993
ISSN
1432-8798
DOI
10.1007/s00705-026-06543-2
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9a87de83-351b-48be-b187-b9a7e4f4c51e
date added to LUP
2026-03-27 12:40:57
date last changed
2026-06-06 11:09:49
@article{9a87de83-351b-48be-b187-b9a7e4f4c51e,
  abstract     = {{<p>UNLABELLED: <br>
 Pectobacterium brasiliense (<br>
 Pbr) is known to be one of the most virulent <br>
 Pectobacterium species and is generally widely distributed across the globe, especially known for causing soft rot in potato-tubers and black leg in potato-plants. Currently no treatment mechanism exists, and many studies have focused on alternative treatment approaches such as biocontrol agents. Several studies have used phages targeting <br>
 Pectobacterium species as effective biocontrol agents. This study is the first description of a single-stranded DNA phage belonging to the family <br>
 Microviridaethat targets <br>
 Pectobacterium. The novel Pectobacterium phage Mimer is proposed to belong to a new genus within the subfamily <br>
 Bullavirinae in the family <br>
 Microviridae. Phage Mimer has a genome size of 5879 nt with twelve predicted gene products. Seven out of twelve gene products could be assigned with a function based on either amino acid sequence or structural similarity. Gene synteny and phylogenetic analyses suggest that phage Mimer is part of the subfamily<br>
 Bullavirinae. Phage Mimer proved to infect a broad range of <br>
 Pbr isolates but showed a poor adsorption rate as only 17% of phage particles adsorbed within 10 min on the isolation host. Growth kinetics showed phage Mimer to have a latent period of 65 min and an average burst size of approximately 79 virions per cell. Phage Mimer is the first ssDNA phage targeting Pectobacterium and could be a promising biocontrol agent with great therapeutic potential, based on both the small genome size and the well-known genome architecture of model phage phiX174.<br>
 </p><p>SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00705-026-06543-2.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pedersen, Julie Stenberg and Carstens, Alexander Byth and Rothgardt, Magnus and Viry, Anouk and Hille, Frank and Franz, Charles M A P and Kot, Witold and Egorov, Artyom and Atkinson, Gemma and Hansen, Lars Hestbjerg}},
  issn         = {{1432-8798}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{1--14}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Archives of Virology}},
  title        = {{The first single-stranded DNA virus targeting Pectobacterium belongs to the family Microviridae and demonstrates a broad host range to Pectobacterium brasiliense soft rot pathogens}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00705-026-06543-2}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00705-026-06543-2}},
  volume       = {{171}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}