aureus and JL-1 against Lactobacillus plantarum (Lu et al., 2003; O’Flynn et al., 2004; O’Flaherty et al., 2005; Carey-Smith

et al., 2006; Jamalludeen et al., 2007). Seed & Dennis (2005) isolated five lytic phages from their natural habitats, namely KS1-S3, KS5 and KS6 that were specific to the B. cepacia complex (B. cepacia, Burkholderia multivorans, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Burkholderia stabilis, Burkholderia vietnamiensis, Burkholderia dolosa, Burkholderia ambifaria, Burkholderia anthina and Burkholderia pyrrocinia). Interestingly, KS5 and KS6 showed a broader host range by being able to lyse two clinically important representatives of the B. cepacia complex, B. multivorans and B. cenocepacia (Seed & Dennis,

2005). In 1956, 24 anti-Whitmore phages were isolated from stagnant water in Hanoi, Vietnam, and used as indicators RAD001 nmr of the presence of check details their bacterial hosts in nature. Thirty-six W. bacillus isolates (the former name of B. pseudomallei), 10 from Hanoi and 26 from Saigon, were tested against 24 phages showing differences in their susceptibility to the phages. The differences might have been due to antigenic differences according to the origin of bacterial strains (Leclerc & Sureau, 1956). Therefore, the work reported here is the first detailed study of the isolation and characterization of lytic phages of the Myoviridae family from soils that were able to lyse B. pseudomallei. There were two soil sites where both phages and B. pseudomallei coexisted (data not shown). One site is where ST79 was found. This phage was able to lyse B. pseudomallei isolated from the same site. The balance between phage and bacteria may allow them to be present at the same time. It may be assumed that the host of these phages in nature is B. pseudomallei. Phages ST2 and ST96 morphology are similar to T-even phage (e.g. B. cepacia Casein kinase 1 phages KS1, KS2, KS5 and KS6 and E. coli phage GJ9) with icosahedral heads and contractile tails (Seed & Dennis, 2005). The morphology

of ST7, ST70 and ST79 phages are similar to P2-like phage (e.g. Haemiphilus phage HP1, O149 enterotoxigenic E. coli phage GJ5 and GJ6) (Jamalludeen et al., 2007). From several studies of phages in the ocean, Myoviruses are typically lytic and are often found to have a broader host range than other tailed phages, which can sometimes infect different species of bacteria (Suttle, 2005). Interestingly, the six phages here were quite specific, able to lyse 41–78% of B. pseudomallei isolates obtained from both clinical and environmental samples, but also formed tiny plaques on the closely related species, B. mallei, strictly found in the horse. Only ST2 and ST96 phages could lyse B. thailandensis, a nonpathogenic but closely related bacterium found in soils of the same areas but not B. cepacia or Ralstonia solanacearum, which are plant pathogens. The resistance of various B.