New E. coli-infecting bacteriophage introduced in PHAGE

New Rochelle, NY, January 14, 2020–A new coliphage – a bacteriophage that infects and can destroy Escherichia coli — is presented and characterized in PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research, a new peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers launching in early 2020. Click here to read the full-text article free on the PHAGE website through February 14, 2020.

The article entitled “Genome Sequence and Characterization of Coliphage vB_Eco_SLUR29.” was coauthored by Andrew Millard, University of Leicester, and colleagues from the University of Leicester, University of Warwick (Coventry), and University of Nottingham (Sutton Bonington), U.K. Coliphage have potential therapeutic applications, and more than 600 unique coliphage have been isolated and their genomes sequenced to date. The researchers isolated vB_Eco_SLUR29 from cattle slurry collected from a farm in rural England. They analyzed the ability of this novel coliphage to lyse E. coli and they sequenced its genome. They used transmission electron microscopy to identify the phase as a member of the Siphoviridae family, and they used physogenetic analysis and comparative genomics to identify it as part of a new genus within the subfamily Tunavirinae.

“In an increasing era of finding new phages that infect bacterial pathogens, it will be to our advantage as much as possible to systematically catalogue genomic and biological data collected on new phages,” said Martha Clokie, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of PHAGE and Professor of Microbiology, University of Leicester (U.K.). “To present newly isolated and characterized phages, we suggest they are written up as ‘phage introductions.’ I am very pleased that Andy Millard — who coined this concept — has written a key exemplar paper to showcase our first ‘introduction.’ Please meet coliphage vB_Eco_SLUR29!”

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About the Journal

PHAGE: Therapy, Applications, and Research is the only peer-reviewed journal dedicated to fundamental bacteriophage research and its applications in medicine, agriculture, aquaculture, veterinary applications, animal production, food safety, and food production. Led by Editor-in-Chief, Martha Clokie, PhD, University of Leicester, United Kingdom, the Journal showcases groundbreaking research, reviews, commentaries, opinion pieces, profiles and perspectives dedicated to defining the roles of phages in all facets of microbiology and microbial ecology and exploring their potential to manipulate bacterial communities and treat infection. More information is available on the PHAGE website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including The CRISPR Journal, Human Gene Therapy, Microbial Drug Resistance, and Viral Immunology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 90 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.