Isolation and characterization of two phages of Gluconobacter oxydans

Two bacteriophages, designated GW6210 and JW2040, were isolated from decaying apples using Gluconobacter oxydans ATCC621 and G, oxydans VIP 204JW, respectively. Electron microscopy showed that phage GW6210 belonged to group A and phage JW2040 to group C of Bradley's morphological classification. Phage GW6210 was unusually large, with a head diameter of 170 nm. Both phages contained double stranded DNA. The G+C content of the DNA of phage GW6210 was 29,3 mol% (T(m)), and the size of the genome was approximately 250-300 kb. The size of the DNA of phage JW2040 was found to be 37 kb and the G+C content was 56.5 mol % (T(m)). The host ranges of both phages were determined using 54 Gluconobacter, 52 Acetobacter and three Pseudomonas strains. Only the Gluconobacter strains were hosts for these phages.