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POSTERS: Molecular/Cellular Plant‐Microbe Interactions I

P-365 - Full description of the Dickeya-specific Phi-EC2 bacteriophage

Monday, August 4, 2025
4:30 PM - 5:15 PM HST
Location: Exhibit Hall 3

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SC

    Stephane COCIANCICH, PhD

    Researcher
    PHIM, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
    MONTPELLIER Cedex 5, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

    • Author(s)

  • SY

    Sarah YAMMINE

    Post-doctoral student
    PHIM, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, IRD, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
    MONTPELLIER, Languedoc-Roussillon, France

  • DS

    Daryna SOKOLOVA

    Assistant Professor
    Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
    GDANSK, Pomorskie, Poland

  • LR

    Lukasz RABALSKI

    Assistant Professor
    Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
    GDANSK, Pomorskie, Poland

  • MK

    Maceij KOSINSKI

    PhD student
    Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
    GDANSK, Pomorskie, Poland

  • MN

    Magdalena NARAJCZYK

    University professor
    Faculty of Biology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
    GDANSK, Pomorskie, Poland

  • GC

    Guy CONDEMINE

    Research director
    UMR MAP CNRS - UCBL - INSA Lyon, Lyon, France
    LYON, Rhone-Alpes, France

  • RC

    Robert CZAJKOWSKI

    Professor
    Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
    GDANSK, Pomorskie, Poland

Abstract Text: Bacteriophages (commonly called phages) are considered as the most abundant living entity on Earth (approximately 1031). They are natural viruses which target bacteria with, generally, an infection capacity restricted to several strains within a bacterial species. The pectinolytic genus Dickeya, qualified as one of the top ten most damaging plant pathogens based on economic negative impact, is widely used as a model for phytopathology studies. Dickeya bacteria are sometimes reluctant to transformation by conventional techniques such as conjugation or electroporation. Interestingly, generalized phage transduction has been proven to be an effective mechanism to transfer DNA from one Dickeya strain to another, as illustrated in several studies of generalized transduction or genome mapping using the temperate phage Phi-EC2 that was identified but only scarcely described forty years ago. We sequenced the Phi-EC2 phage genome as well as a Dickeya dadantii 3937 lysogenic strain harboring the corresponding prophage. Here, by means of a combination of genomic sequence analyses and electron microscopy observations, we provide for the first time a complete description of the Dickeya-specific bacteriophage Phi-EC2, including information on genome annotation, on phage morphology and on the insertion site of the prophage in the lysogen. Phagotherapy is a promising way to fight phytopathogenic bacteria. The complete characterization of a Dickeya-specific phage resulting from the present effort is indeed a crucial step to the development of such a therapy.