International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) honors Max Rubner
Bacteriophages are viruses, which can attack and kill bacteria. In the bacteriophage laboratory of the Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology (Max Rubner-Institut, Kiel), a bacteriophage PMBT3 with lytic activity towards a Pseudomonas grimontii bacterium was isolated from a reliable source for isolation of phages, i.e. a local sewage treatment plant in Kiel, Germany. Pseudomonads are bacteria which can cause milk spoilage. It produces and excretes heat labile enzymes into the milk (lipases and proteases), which can spoil milk and lead to significant problems in the dairy industry. The bacteriophage was characterized and by sequencing the complete genome, it was confirmed that it represents a hitherto unknown phage. After submitting the genome sequence to the international GenBank database, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) became aware of the new genus, and in a “Taxonomy proposal” it proposed the new genus to be named “Maxrubnervirus” *. The Max Rubner Institute, especially the Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology in which the virus was isolated, is pleased to be honored this way by the ICTV. The new genus Maxrubnervirus, for which the currently only species is the Pseudomonas grimontii phage PMBT3, has recently been listed online in international databases and thereby has been officially approved (<link https: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov nuccore mg596799.1 external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/MG596799.1
). The Max Rubner-Institut thus not only has served as the nomenclature basis for description of a new bacterium genus and species (<link https: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov external-link-new-window externen link in neuem>pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29537365/
), but now also for a novel bacteriophage genus.* Kropinski AM, Adriaenssens EM (2019). Create one new genus (Maxrubnervirus) including one new species in the family Siphoviridae. ICTV Taxonomic Proposal 2019.006B
