|
| Name of phage | Type of life cycle | Short description | Phage host specificity | Possible application |
|
| Wβ | Lysogenic | Belongs to Siphoviridae. Inability to infect encapsulated cells [4]. | Infects all 171 tested nonencapsulated strains [50], but does not infect other Bacillus strains. | Preparing bioluminescent reporter bacteriophage for B. anthracis detection in clinically relevant samples [56] and providing an antibiotic susceptibility profile [4]. |
|
| Gamma phage (γ) | Lytic | Belongs to Siphoviridae [57]. Cannot bind to GamR receptor on bacterial surface and does not encode a PDGA depolymerase. Encodes a fosfomycin resistance gene [58]. | B. anthracis 1584; 211; SL 1809; Sterne 34F2 [51]. Not active against B. anthracis Ames strain that produces capsule.
Strains that do not encode the pX01 plasmid are more susceptible to phage γ than strains that possess the plasmid [62]. | Identification of B. anthracis strains and its differentiation from other similar strains from B. cereus group. |
|
| AP50 | Lytic | Belongs to Tectiviridae [55], isolated from soil. Infects only B. anthracis strains. Does not lyse strains belonging to different Bacillus spp. The lysogenic mutant AP50c is characterized by very high killing efficiency [63]. | Narrow host range [64]. Lyses 33% of B. anthracis strains [1]. This phage may infect bacterial strains that are resistant to γ phage [63]. It does not infect the B. cereus ATCC4342 strain, which infects the γ phage. | Probable use in therapy of anthrax. It is suggested to be used in typing and biocontrol of B. anthracis [65]. |
|
| Fah | Lytic | Belongs to Siphoviridae [66]. | B. anthracis 1584; 211; SL 1809; Sterne 34F2 [54]. Narrower lytic spectrum. Lyses 73–89% of B. anthracis strains [1, 66]. | Probable use in therapy of anthrax. |
|
| Worm intestinal phage 1 (Wip1) | Lytic | Belongs to Tectiviridae [67]. It was isolated from the intestinal tract of Eisenia fetida worms. [52]. | Exhibits a narrow host range highly specific to B. anthracis [67]. Does not infect the B. cereus ATCC4342 strain, which infectstheγ phage [52]. | Potentially useful diagnostic tool for efficient identification of B. anthracis; may be labelled and applied in organism for rapid readout [61]. |
|
| Giraffe phage |
? | Belongs to Siphoviridae isolated from giraffe faeces in a zoo (Long Island) [68]. This phage shows a rapid lysis phenotype. | Lyses the ciprofloxacin-resistant B. anthracis strain HS2-7 [68]. | Possible use in therapy when infection is caused by antibiotic-resistant B. anthracis strain [67]. |
|
| F7 | Lytic | Isolated from bovine faeces. Belongs to Siphoviridae [51]. | B. anthracis 1584; 211; SL 1809; Sterne 34F2; B. cereus ATCC13472; B. cereus ATCC 10876; B. thuringiensis ATCC 33679 [51]. | Probable use in therapy of anthrax. |
|
| F9 | Lytic | Isolated from bovine faeces. Belongs to Siphoviridae [51]. | B. anthracis 1584; 211; SL 1809; Sterne 34F2; B. cereus ATCC13472; B. cereus ATCC 10876; B. thuringiensis ATCC 33679 [51]. | Probable use in therapy of anthrax. |
|
| vB_BanS-Tsamsa | Lysogenic | Isolated from carcasses in Etosha National Park in Namibia. Belongs to Siphoviridae. Has the largest sequenced genomes of Bacillus siphovirus.Purified endolysin encoded in genome of this phage has broader spectrum than the phage. The largest siphovirus known to infect Bacillus strains [54]. | Infects also strains belonging to B. cereus and B. thuringiensis [54]. Did not lyse the B. anthracis PAK-1 strain (resistant to both γ and cherry phage). Moderate specificity to B. anthracis. | Use of purified phage endolysin in B. anthracis biocontrol. |
|
