Escherichia coli strain:EcM2K_ST446 Genome sequencing. Escherichia coli strain:EcM2K_ST446

The study concerns the isolation of a novel bacteriophage and its host strain from a bovine sample. Both the strain and the host were isolated from Molly farm in Sheffield from a milk sample. The phage and the host have been sequenced and the phage is classified as Asteriousvirus, whereas the host falls as an ExPEC strain. The phage was tested against a range of E. coli strains. Some of the strains have been isolated from clinical samples and other tested strains are lab strains. Some of the clinical samples showed sensitivity to the phage, while others did not. Of which, a sepsis isolate showed sensitivity to the phage with the production of clear round plaques.On the other hand resistance to the phage was observed with a UPEC sample isolated from urine. The host strain is also sensitive to the phage and produces clear plaques on the double-agar method. We also observed the possible involvement of the bacterial flagella in the initial stages of phage attachment. We proved with mutation and complementation assays that flagella plays a crucial role in the infection cycle of the phage.