| Summary: | Representatives of the bacterial genus <i>Aeromonas</i> are some of the most notorious aquaculture pathogens associated with a range of diseases in different fish species. As the world forges toward the post-antibiotic era, alternative options for combating bacterial pathogens are needed. One such alternative option is phage biocontrol. In this study, a novel podophage—JELG-KS1—infecting <i>Aeromonas salmonicida</i> was retrieved from wastewater along with its host strain. The genome of the JELG-KS1 phage is a 40,505 bp dsDNA molecule with a GC% of 53.42% and 185 bp direct terminal repeats and encodes 53 predicted proteins. Genomic analysis indicates that JELG-KS1 might represent a novel genus within the subfamily <i>Studiervirinae</i>. Podophage JELG-KS1 is a strictly lytic phage without any identifiable virulence or AMR genes that quickly adsorbs onto the surface of host cells to initiate a 48 min long infectious cycle, resulting in the release of 71 ± 12 JELG-KS1 progeny virions per infected cell. JELG-KS1 effectively lyses its host population in vitro, even at very low multiplicities of infection. However, when challenged against a panel of <i>Aeromonas</i> spp. strains associated with diseases in aquaculture, JELG-KS1 shows host-specificity that is confined only to its isolation strain, immediately compromising its potential for <i>Aeromonas</i> spp. biocontrol in aquaculture.
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