Complete genomic sequence of the lytic bacteriophage phi YeO3-12 of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O : 3

phi YeO3-12 is a T3-related lytic bacteriophage of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3, The nucleotide sequence of the 39,600-bp linear double-strand ed DNA (dsDNA) genome was determined. The phage genome has direct terminal repeats of 232 bp, a GC content of 50.6%, and 54 putative genes, which are all transcribed from the same DNA strand. Functions were assigned to 30 gen es based on the similarity of the predicted products to known proteins. A s triking feature of the phi YeO3-12 genome is its extensive similarity to th e coliphage T3 and T7 genomes; most of the predicted phi YeO3-12 gene produ cts were >70% identical to those of T3, and the overall organizations of th e genomes were similar. In addition to an identical promoter specificity, p hi YeO3-12 shares several common features with T3, nonsubjectibility to F e xclusion and growth on Shigella sonnei D(2)371-48 (M. Pajunen, S. Kiljunen, and M. Skurnik J. Bacteriol. 182:5114-5120, 2000). These findings indicate that phi YeO3-12 is a T3-like phage that has adapted to Y. enterocolitica O:3 or vice versa. This is the first dsDNA yersiniophage genome sequence to be reported.