First Report of Filamentous Phages Isolated from Tunisian Orchards to Control Erwinia amylovora

Abstract

Newly discovered <i>Erwinia amylovora</i> phages PEar1, PEar2, PEar4 and PEar6 were isolated from three different orchards in North Tunisia to study their potential as biocontrol agents. Illumina sequencing revealed that the PEar viruses carry a single-strand DNA genome between 6608 and 6801 nucleotides and belong to the Inoviridae, making them the first described filamentous phages of <i>E. amylovora</i>. Interestingly, phage-infected cells show a decreased swimming and swarming motility and a cocktail of the four phages can significantly reduce infection of <i>E. amylovora</i> in a pear bioassay, potentially making them suitable candidates for phage biocontrol.