- Cresawn, Steven G;
- Pope, Welkin H;
- Jacobs-Sera, Deborah;
- Bowman, Charles A;
- Russell, Daniel A;
- Dedrick, Rebekah M;
- Adair, Tamarah;
- Anders, Kirk R;
- Ball, Sarah;
- Bollivar, David;
- Breitenberger, Caroline;
- Burnett, Sandra H;
- Butela, Kristen;
- Byrnes, Deanna;
- Carzo, Sarah;
- Cornely, Kathleen A;
- Cross, Trevor;
- Daniels, Richard L;
- Dunbar, David;
- Findley, Ann M;
- Gissendanner, Chris R;
- Golebiewska, Urszula P;
- Hartzog, Grant A;
- Hatherill, J Robert;
- Hughes, Lee E;
- Jalloh, Chernoh S;
- De Los Santos, Carla;
- Ekanem, Kevin;
- Khambule, Sphindile L;
- King, Rodney A;
- King-Smith, Christina;
- Klyczek, Karen;
- Krukonis, Greg P;
- Laing, Christian;
- Lapin, Jonathan S;
- Lopez, A Javier;
- Mkhwanazi, Sipho M;
- Molloy, Sally D;
- Moran, Deborah;
- Munsamy, Vanisha;
- Pacey, Eddie;
- Plymale, Ruth;
- Poxleitner, Marianne;
- Reyna, Nathan;
- Schildbach, Joel F;
- Stukey, Joseph;
- Taylor, Sarah E;
- Ware, Vassie C;
- Wellmann, Amanda L;
- Westholm, Daniel;
- Wodarski, Donna;
- Zajko, Michelle;
- Zikalala, Thabiso S;
- Hendrix, Roger W;
- Hatfull, Graham F
- Editor(s): van Raaij, Mark J
Mycobacteriophages--viruses of mycobacterial hosts--are genetically diverse but morphologically are all classified in the Caudovirales with double-stranded DNA and tails. We describe here a group of five closely related mycobacteriophages--Corndog, Catdawg, Dylan, Firecracker, and YungJamal--designated as Cluster O with long flexible tails but with unusual prolate capsids. Proteomic analysis of phage Corndog particles, Catdawg particles, and Corndog-infected cells confirms expression of half of the predicted gene products and indicates a non-canonical mechanism for translation of the Corndog tape measure protein. Bioinformatic analysis identifies 8-9 strongly predicted SigA promoters and all five Cluster O genomes contain more than 30 copies of a 17 bp repeat sequence with dyad symmetry located throughout the genomes. Comparison of the Cluster O phages provides insights into phage genome evolution including the processes of gene flux by horizontal genetic exchange.