Genome of Klebsiella sp.-Infecting Bacteriophage vB_KleM_RaK2

Abstract

Despite the fact that multidrug-resistant Klebsiella sp. strains emerge rapidly (Xu J, et al., Adv. Mater. Res. 268-270:1954-1956, 2011) and bacteriophages have been reported to be useful in controlling these bacteria (Kumari S, Harjai K, Chhibber S, J. Med. Microbiol. 60:205-210, 2011), the complete genome sequences of only five Klebsiella phages (four siphoviruses and one myovirus) can be found in databases. In this paper, we report on the complete genome sequence of Klebsiella sp.-infecting bacteriophage vB_KleM_RaK2. With a genome size of 345,809 bp, this is the second largest myovirus and the largest Klebsiella phage sequenced to date. This phage differs substantially from other myoviruses since 411 out of 534 vB_KleM_RaK2 open reading frames have no known functions and lack any reliable database matches. Comparative analysis of the genome sequence of vB_KleM_RaK2 suggests that this phage forms a distinct phylogenetic branch within the family Myoviridae of tailed bacteriophages.