Bacteriophage diversity in the North Sea

Eighty-five phages were collected from an area near, Helgoland, a German island in the North Sea, to examine 22 phage-host systems in aquatic environments and genetic relationships of the phages. Electron microscopy, DNA-DNA hybridization and host range studies were used to determine the relationships between phages. Results show that there is no DNA homology between phages and that the 22 bacteriophages came from 13 different species.