A temperate phage was induced by mitomycin C from Leuconostoc oenos strain 1002, a New Zealand isolate. The phage has an isometric head (52 +/- 3 nm) with a tail (210 +/- 10 nm) and gives a lytic burst size of 25 when grown on a sensitive strain. Three major structural proteins of 43, 30 and 14 kDa are visible by Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). A restriction map of the 36-kb genome was determined, Commercially available L. oenos strains PSU-1, ML34 and Lco23 and 46.6% of New Zealand isolates were sensitive to the phage.