Abstract
Abstract Bacteriophage (phage) collections are essential resources for studying virus–host interactions in bacterial species. Here, we report six Escherichia coli -infecting phages that expand the Lund Collection of Bacteriophages. These phages were isolated in 2025 within the framework of the School of Molecular and Theoretical Biology for high-school students, from samples collected in Lake Taldykol, Astana, Kazakhstan, using E. coli strains MG1655Δ RM and EV36 as hosts. The isolated phages comprise Taldykol (LuPh6), a member of the genus Kagunavirus ; Aidakhar (LuPh7) of the genus Phapecoctavirus ; Samruk (LuPh8) of the genus Tequintavirus ; the T-odd-like phage Baiterek (LuPh9) of the genus Vequintavirus ; and two T-even-like phages Tulpar (LuPh10) and Shurale (LuPh11) that belong to the Tequatrovirus genus. This expanded phage collection enhances the toolkit for investigating phage-host interactions and their molecular mechanisms and highlights the use of phage isolation as a component of high school research education. Importance Phage collections are a key resource for studying phage biology, phage-bacteria interactions and bacterial immune systems. Here, we extend the Lund Phage Collection through the isolation and characterisation of six E. coli -infecting phages, including three novel species (LuPh6, LuPh8 and LuPh11) as well as a member of the genus Phapecoctavirus that not represented in widely used collections such as BASEL (LuPh7). This study expands the resources available for probing phage-host interactions and demonstrates an example of integrating phage research into education of high school students.