Abstract
Experiments were performed to determine the mechanism of release of phage from the lysogenic strain of B. mycoides N. The results suggest that qualitatively the same situation obtains as in the phage-carrying cultures of B. megatherium 899 and E. coli Li; i.e., the population consists of two kinds of cells: "lysogènes potentiels" and "producteurs." Quantitatively, however, there are more "producers" in a broth culture of the lysogenic B. mycoides N, at least curing the first 4 to 8 hours after cells have been suspended in fresh medium, suggesting that the interaction between host and parasite is one in which the balance is easily swung in favor of the virus. These conclusions are based upon the following lines of evidence: (1) the slow "growth rate" of the lysogenic culture, (2) the fact that the colony count falls far below the plaque count or the filament count (which correspond) for a well washed suspension, (3) the increase in phage output in a large number of tubes, each containing a small number of lysogenic cells, after a few hours' incubation in nutrient broth at 30°C.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (672.9 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BAER B. S., KRUEGER A. P. The B. mycoides N host-virus system. I. Differences in appearance and "rate of growth" of the lysogenic and parent indicator strains. J Gen Physiol. 1952 Jul;35(6):857–864. doi: 10.1085/jgp.35.6.857. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LWOFF A., GUTMANN A. Recherches sur un Bacillus megatherium lysogène. Ann Inst Pasteur (Paris) 1950 Jun;78(6):711–739. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- NORTHROP J. H. Growth and phage production of lysogenic B. megatherium. J Gen Physiol. 1951 May;34(5):715–735. doi: 10.1085/jgp.34.5.715. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ROUNTREE P. M. The phenomenon of lysogenicity in staphylococci. J Gen Microbiol. 1949 May;3(2):153–163. doi: 10.1099/00221287-3-2-153. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WELSHIMER H. J. Observations on phage output and on anaerobic lysis of lysogenic strains of Bacillus megatherium. J Bacteriol. 1951 Feb;61(2):153–159. doi: 10.1128/jb.61.2.153-159.1951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]