Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1985 Jul;49(1):32–35. doi: 10.1128/iai.49.1.32-35.1985

A beta-related corynebacteriophage which lacks a tox allele but can acquire it by recombination with converting phage.

N Cianciotto, N Groman
PMCID: PMC262053  PMID: 3924830

Abstract

Corynebacteriophage 782, a phage highly related to the beta family of corynebacteriophages but lacking a tox allele, was isolated from a nontoxinogenic clinical isolate of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Phage 782 exhibits beta immunity but has a wider host range than beta, forming plaques on strains of C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis as well as on C. diphtheriae. Phage 782 and beta differed in their DNA mass and in their restriction endonuclease digest patterns, but were similar in possessing cos (cohesive) and attP (phage attachment) sites. Moreover, all the BamHI fragments of 782 and beta except one hybridized with a DNA probe of the other. The exception in both cases was the attP-containing fragment, which in beta also carries the tox gene. Recombinants between phage 782 and pi phage, a tox+ beta-related phage, were isolated which contained ca. 70% of phage 782 DNA but carried the attP-tox-bearing fragment of pi and were thus now converting phages. The recombinants had lost the wide-host-range phenotype of 782 and had the narrower host range of pi. The significance of the tox-less, beta-related phages to the natural history of diphtheria is discussed.

Full text

PDF
32

Images in this article

33Image
on p.33
34Image
on p.34

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Buck G. A., Groman N. B. Identification of deoxyribonucleic acid restriction fragments of beta-converting corynebacteriophages that carry the gene for diphtheria toxin. J Bacteriol. 1981 Oct;148(1):153–162. doi: 10.1128/jb.148.1.153-162.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buck G. A., Groman N. B. Physical mapping of beta-converting and gamma-nonconverting corynebacteriophage genomes. J Bacteriol. 1981 Oct;148(1):131–142. doi: 10.1128/jb.148.1.131-142.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Groman N. B. Conversion by corynephages and its role in the natural history of diphtheria. J Hyg (Lond) 1984 Dec;93(3):405–417. doi: 10.1017/s0022172400065001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Groman N., Cianciotto N., Bjorn M., Rabin M. Detection and expression of DNA homologous to the tox gene in nontoxinogenic isolates of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Infect Immun. 1983 Oct;42(1):48–56. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.1.48-56.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Groman N., Laird W. Bacteriophage production by doubly lysogenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. J Virol. 1977 Sep;23(3):592–598. doi: 10.1128/jvi.23.3.592-598.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Holmes R. K., Barksdale L. Comparative studies with tox plus and tox minus corynebacteriophages. J Virol. 1970 Jun;5(6):783–784. doi: 10.1128/jvi.5.6.783-794.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Laird W., Groman N. Isolation and characterization of tox mutants of corynebacteriophage beta. J Virol. 1976 Jul;19(1):220–227. doi: 10.1128/jvi.19.1.220-227.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Laird W., Groman N. Prophage map of converting corynebacteriophage beta. J Virol. 1976 Jul;19(1):208–219. doi: 10.1128/jvi.19.1.208-219.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Maximescu P., Oprişan A., Pop A., Potorac E. Further studies on Corynebacterium species capable of producing diphtheria toxin (C. diphtheriae, C. ulcerans, C. ovis). J Gen Microbiol. 1974 May;82(1):49–56. doi: 10.1099/00221287-82-1-49. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Michel J. L., Rappuoli R., Murphy J. R., Pappenheimer A. M., Jr Restriction endonuclease map of the nontoxigenic corynephage gamma c and its relationship to the toxigenic corynephage beta c. J Virol. 1982 May;42(2):510–518. doi: 10.1128/jvi.42.2.510-518.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pappenheimer A. M., Jr Diphtheria: studies on the biology of an infectious disease. Harvey Lect. 1980;76:45–73. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rappuoli R., Michel J. L., Murphy J. R. Integration of corynebacteriophages beta tox+, omega tox+, and gamma tox- into two attachment sites on the Corynebacterium diphtheriae chromosome. J Bacteriol. 1983 Mar;153(3):1202–1210. doi: 10.1128/jb.153.3.1202-1210.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES