Isolation and characterization of the novel Virgibacillus-infecting bacteriophage Mimir87

The novel bacterial virus Mimir87, infecting the salt-tolerant bacterium Virgibacillus halotolerans, was isolated from worker honey bees. Mimir87 has an elongated head and a long non-contractile tail consistent with members of the Siphoviridae phage family. The phage genome comprises 48,016 base pairs and encodes 68 predicted proteins, to 34 of which a function could be assigned from homology analysis. The phage encodes two metabolism-related transporter proteins previously not observed in bacteriophage genomes. Mimir87 displays some relatedness to several Bacillus and Paenibacillus viruses; however, the overall sequence dissimilarity suggests Mimir87 to be a representative of a new phage genus.