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Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a foodborne pathogen, has become resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, alternative bio-control agents such bacteriophage are urgently needed for its control. Six novel bacteriophages specific to V. parahaemolyticus (vB_VpaP_KF1~2, vB_VpaS_KF3~6) were characterized at the molecular level in this study. Genomic similarity analysis revealed that these six bacteriophages could be divided into two groups with different genomic features, phylogenetic grouping, and morphologies. Two groups of bacteriophages had their own genes with different mechanisms for infection, assembly, and metabolism. Our results could be used as a future reference to study phage genomics or apply phages in future bio-control studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virulent phage ESP2949-1, which was isolated from sewage, has an icosahedral head, a contractile tail, and a double-stranded DNA genome with a length of 49,116 bp with 50.09% G+C content. Phage ESP2949-1 showed 3% similarity to enterobacteria phage TLS. Bioinformatics analysis of the phage genome revealed 43 putative open reading frames (ORFs). Predicted protein products of the ORFs were determined and described. Based on its morphology, phage ESP2949-1 can be classified as a member of the family Myoviridae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the genomic sequence and characterization of phage ESP2949-1 isolated from sewage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]