ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research ISSN 2241-9837 Vol. 13 (3), pp. 001-006, March, 2019. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Nigerian phages: The first bacteriophages from Tropical Africa
Adeniran S. Koko1,3, Hans W. Ackermann2*, Monisola A. Taiwo1 and Sunday A. Omilabu1
1Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
2Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, QC, G1K 7P4, Canada.
3Quest Diagnostics West Hills, CA 91304, CA, USA.
Accepted 03 March, 2019
Abstract
Fifteen morphological bacteriophage types were observed in enrichment cultures of sewage, surface water and human feces collected in Lagos, Nigeria. All phages were tailed and belonged to the Myoviridae, Siphoviridae or Podoviridae families. Most phages could be assigned to well-known morphotypes. Ten of them corresponded to phages of enterobacteria or pseudomonads. Four morphotypes (φKZ, T4 and χ, Jersey) prevailed in most samples. Most others occurred in traces only.
Key words: Bacteriophages, ecology, identification, morphotypes.