Characterization of a temperate Cluster FA phage 'Pucara' from the host Arthrobacter, and a lytic Cluster EF phage 'Snakehole' that infects Microbacterium foliorum.

Carina Andrea, Noah Graichen, Kyle Caldwell, Marisa Cardinale, Amanda Disabella, Vincent Ezeoke, Lesli Miller, Zachary Nakonechny, Trinidad Rodriguez-Ricchiuti, Aaliyah Sanchez, Odeth Sandoval, Devona Smith, Nicholas P Edgington

The bacteriophage Pucara was isolated from a soil sample collected in Southern Connecticut State University's campus in New Haven, Connecticut in 2023, and enriched on the host Arthrobacter. After three rounds of purification, TEM was performed on, and genomic DNA was isolated from this temperate bacteriophage. This Cluster FA phage has a long flexible non-contractile tail of 157.9 nm long, and a capsid length and width of 57.98 nm. Pucara has an interesting potential lipase that is only present in one other Cluster EM2 phage genome. A second bacteriophage named Snakehole was isolated using the host Microbacterium foliorum, and analyzed similarly. It was determined to be a Cluster EF member, lytic, and has a circularly permuted genome organization. Snakehole's genome length is 56,035 base pairs, with approximately 83 predicted genes.