Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of the New Bacillus Cereus Phage SWEP1

Abstract A new Bacillus cereus phage SWEP1 was isolated from black soil. The host lysis activity of phage SWEP1 has a relatively short latent time (20 min) and a small burst size of 83 PFU. The genome of SWEP1 consists of 162,461 bp with 37.77% G+C content. The phage encodes 278 predicted proteins where 103 were assigned functionally. No tRNA gene was found. Comparative genomics analysis indicated that SWEP1 is related to Bacillus phage B4 (86.91% identity, 90% query coverage). Phenotypic and genotypic characterization suggesting that SWEP1 is a new member of a new species in the genus Bequatrovirus, family Herelleviridae.