Isolation of actinophage that attack some maduromycete actinomycetes

Abstract

During the course of natural product screening, two actinomycete strains, designated 3828E and 3913E, were isolated from soil collected in the Phillipines and New Zealand, respectively. Strain 3828E released without induction an actinophage. The host isolate was chemotaxonomically identical to members of the revised genus Microtetraspora having both wall chemotype III, sugar pattern B and phospholipid pattern PIV. On the basis of cultural and morphological characteristics, the isolate was most similar to Microtetraspora salmonea. Strain 3913E shared the same chemotaxonomic characteristics as strain 3828E; however, morphological examination revealed the presence of spores arranged distinctively as pairs along aerial hyphae. On this basis, strain 3913E was classified as a member of the genus Microbispora. When re-infected into the soil it had been isolated from, actinophage were recovered that specifically attacked strain 3931E. The presence of phage from both maduromycetes was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Neither phage was able to attack a range of other actinomycetes. We believe this to be the first reported isolation of actinophage that attack species of the genera Microtetraspora and Microbispora.