Isolation and comparative study of a group of temperate bacteriophages of rhizospheric pseudomonads Pseudomonas putida

We have isolated several new temperate bacteriophages for rhizosphere pseudomonads Pseudomonas putida. Examination of these phages, along with two previously isolated temperate phages PP56 and PP71 of P. putida PpG1 (biovar A), allowed us to classify them into four species on the basis of DNA cross-homology; relative genomic size; and, to a certain extent, the morphology of phage particles. Two of these species are represented by nonidentical variants. No transposable phages were found among these two new species. Three phage species cause various-types of lysogenic conversion manifested in growth suppression of other phage species. This seems to account for the fact that the temperate phage of rhizosphere pseudomonads are seldom encountered. The new phages described can be used for selection of phage-resistant bacterial forms exhibiting antifungal activity that are commercially produced and used for treatment of seeds of cultivated plants.