Isolation and Characterization of vB_MsmS_Celfi: A New Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacteriophage

Introduction: Because of the clinical relevance of Mycobacteria , and from a therapeutic perspective, there is an increasing interest to study phages that infect bacteria belonging to this genus. Materials and Methods: A phage was isolated from a soil sample, using Mycobacterium smegmatis as host. Its characterization included sequencing, annotation, and analysis of the genome, host range determination, and electron microscopy imaging. Results: Mycobacterium phage vB_MsmS_Celfi is a temperate phage able to infect Mycobacterium tuberculosis with high efficiency. From electron microscopy images, Celfi belongs to the Siphoviridae family. Genome analysis classified phage Celfi into cluster L, subcluster L2 of Actinobacteriophage clusters. Mycobacterium phage Celfi exhibits a Lysin B distant to those present in other members of the subcluster and other mycobacteriophages. Conclusions: The discovery of new phages that infect M. tuberculosis could contribute to the development of novel tools for detection systems and future treatment of the disease.