Abstract
Mycobacteriophage archival stocks have been kept for ca. 20–50 years in Japan. In this study, we attempted to recover mycobacteriophages from 50 archival stocks and briefly analyzed the recovered phages. The phages were recovered from 72.2% (13/18) of the lyophilized stocks that had been stored for 47-56 years. Moreover, the analysis of 12 representative recovered phages led to their classification as belonging to the family Siphoviridae, and seven of them were typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the gene that encodes the tape measure protein. Considering these results, lyophilization seems to be suitable for phage archival storage.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the staff of the Department of Microbiology and Infection, Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan, for experimental advice. They also thank Mr. Hiroki Tsurui and Mr. Masaya Ogata, Azabu University, Kanagawa, Japan, for their technical help. This research was supported by Research Funding Granted by Kochi University President, and by Research Funding Granted by Azabu University.
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This study was funded by Research Funding Granted by Kochi University President and Research Funding Granted by Azabu University.
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Handling Editor: T. K. Frey.
T. Ujihara and J. Uchiyama contributed equally to the work.
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Ujihara, T., Uchiyama, J., Nasukawa, T. et al. Recovery of mycobacteriophages from archival stocks stored for approximately 50 years in Japan. Arch Virol 163, 1915–1919 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3788-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-018-3788-8