{"doi":"10.3389/fmicb.2025.1550801","title":"Morphological, lytic, and genetic characteristics of three Brucella phages isolated from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","abstract":"<jats:p>This study comprehensively examined three <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> phages (A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2) isolated from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Electron microscopy classified them as short-tailed phages. A1 and NMY-1 lysed smooth strains of <jats:italic>Brucella abortus</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Brucella melitensis</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Brucella suis</jats:italic>, while NMY-2 lysed rough strains of <jats:italic>Brucella melitensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Brucella canis</jats:italic>. The optimal multiplicity of infection for A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2 was lower than that of Tb<jats:sub>C</jats:sub>. A1 and NMY-2 had short growth cycles, and NMY-1 had a long one. All three phages showed high stability against temperature, pH, and ultraviolet exposure. Their genomes were double-stranded DNA, about 38 kb long with a 48% GC content. For each phage, 53 genes were predicted, with no drug-resistance, virulence, or lysogenic genes identified. SNP and InDel analysis revealed significant differences in genes encoding hypothesized tail-collar proteins. Based on SNP data, the phylogenetic tree indicated that phage Bk<jats:sub>W</jats:sub> (GenBank: KC556893) was the closest relative of A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2. These findings significantly enhance our understanding of <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> phage diversity, which is crucial for developing phage-based biocontrol strategies. The host-lysis spectra can guide the selection of effective phages for treating <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> infections. The absence of harmful genes makes these phages potential safe candidates for phage therapy. Moreover, the genetic and phylogenetic insights support further research on phage evolution and classification.</jats:p>","journal":"Frontiers in Microbiology","year":2025,"id":669481,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1748474,"name":"Dongri Piao","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1545615,"name":"Qingqing Xu","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":857559,"name":"Yu Fan","orcid":"0000-0003-3743-3988","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":366828,"name":"Hongyan Zhao","orcid":"0000-0002-5454-2759","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":360689,"name":"Kun Li","orcid":"0000-0002-8244-9404","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1748476,"name":"Guozhong Tian","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1748477,"name":"Kuo Han","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":848101,"name":"Hai Jiang","orcid":"0000-0002-2508-5413","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":831198,"name":"Yu Zhang","orcid":"0000-0001-5969-2388","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Morphological, lytic, and genetic characteristics of three Brucella phages isolated from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region","abstract":"<jats:p>This study comprehensively examined three <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> phages (A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2) isolated from Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Electron microscopy classified them as short-tailed phages. A1 and NMY-1 lysed smooth strains of <jats:italic>Brucella abortus</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Brucella melitensis</jats:italic>, and <jats:italic>Brucella suis</jats:italic>, while NMY-2 lysed rough strains of <jats:italic>Brucella melitensis</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Brucella canis</jats:italic>. The optimal multiplicity of infection for A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2 was lower than that of Tb<jats:sub>C</jats:sub>. A1 and NMY-2 had short growth cycles, and NMY-1 had a long one. All three phages showed high stability against temperature, pH, and ultraviolet exposure. Their genomes were double-stranded DNA, about 38 kb long with a 48% GC content. For each phage, 53 genes were predicted, with no drug-resistance, virulence, or lysogenic genes identified. SNP and InDel analysis revealed significant differences in genes encoding hypothesized tail-collar proteins. Based on SNP data, the phylogenetic tree indicated that phage Bk<jats:sub>W</jats:sub> (GenBank: KC556893) was the closest relative of A1, NMY-1, and NMY-2. These findings significantly enhance our understanding of <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> phage diversity, which is crucial for developing phage-based biocontrol strategies. The host-lysis spectra can guide the selection of effective phages for treating <jats:italic>Brucella</jats:italic> infections. The absence of harmful genes makes these phages potential safe candidates for phage therapy. 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