SRA

Field application of phages in a cherry orchard in Southeast England was conducted to evaluate phage survival, viability, and their impact on bacterial populations and the microbial community. A field trial with phages was conducted between 19th June 2023 and 19th July 2023 and then three months after in September, at a cherry orchard research plot in NIAB, East Malling (N 51° 17' 31.7'', E 0° 26' 52.1''). The trees used were 15-year old Prunus avium cultivar Sweetheart on Gisela 5 rootstock. The distance between trees was 1.5 m, with 3 m distance between each row. There were two untreated guard trees between every experimental tree. A fully randomised block design with two factors (each with two levels), over five blocks with four plots per block (one tree per plot) was used. The two factors were 'phages' (cocktail 5C yes/no) and 'Pss' (Pss bacteria yes/no) for four total treatment groups: 'Control' consisting of PBS buffer; 'cocktail 5C' (108 PFU ml-1); 'Pss' (2 x 108 CFU ml-1); and a combination of 'Pss+ cocktail 5C', where Pss was applied first followed by cocktail 5C within 12 h. Subsequent sampling was done in the morning of day 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 30-day post treatment (DPT) to quantify Pss and phage populations. Three (out of four treated) random leaves from two shoots per tree were collected and combined into a single sample. DNA extraction was performed from 5 ml of leaf washes, from all samples at 3 DPT and 30 DPT, for a total of 40 samples.