Abstract
Pectobacterium odoriferum has recently emerged as a widely infective and destructive pathogen causing soft-rot disease in various vegetables. Bacteriophage phiPccP-1 isolated from Pyeongchang, South Korea, showed lytic activity against P. odoriferum Pco14 and two other Pectobacterium species. The transmission electron microscopy and genome phylograms revealed that phiPccP-1 belongs to the Unyawovirus genus, Studiervirinae subfamily of the Autographivirinae family. Genome comparison showed that its 40,487 bp double-stranded DNA genome shares significant similarity with Pectobacterium phage DU_PP_II with the identity reaching 98% of the genome. The phiPccP-1 application significantly inhibited the development of soft-rot disease in the mature leaves of the harvested Kimchi cabbage up to 48 h after Pco14 inoculation compared to the untreated leaves, suggesting that phiPccP-1 can protect Kimchi cabbage from soft-rot disease after harvest. Remarkably, bioassays with phiPccP-1 in Kimchi cabbage seedlings grown in the growth chamber successfully demonstrated its prophylactic and therapeutic potential in the control of bacterial soft-rot disease in Kimchi cabbage. These results indicate that bacteriophage phiPccP-1 can be used as a potential biological agent for controlling soft rot disease in Kimchi cabbage.
Highlights
Bacterial soft-rot disease caused by Pectobacterium species has been considered as an affliction of vegetables [1]
Various bacteriophages were isolated from rotted Kimchi cabbage leaves collected from Pyeongchang, South Korea
The development of insensitive bacteria was observed at around 5 and 6 h after inoculation in Pco14 (Figure 1c) and Pcc15 (Figure 1d), respectively. These results indicate that phiPccP-1 bacteriophage can kill both P. odoriferum and P. carotovorum efficiently at the early time points and the resistant mutant strains might occur as time goes on
Summary
Bacterial soft-rot disease caused by Pectobacterium species has been considered as an affliction of vegetables [1]. This genus is currently classified into 18 species: P. carotovorum, P. atrosepticum, P. aroidearym, P. aquaticum, P. betavasculorum, P. cacticidum, P. fontis, P. parmentieri, P. polonicum, P. P. carotovorum and P. atrosepticum have been considered among the top 10 economically and scientifically important bacterial plant pathogens [15]. They commonly cause serious soft-rot diseases in many important crops including Kimchi cabbage, due to the high secretion level of cell-wall degrading enzymes [16]. Soft rot is found in the field, and in distribution and storage or during marketing, resulting in great economic losses [18]
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