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. 1967 Feb;93(2):722–730. doi: 10.1128/jb.93.2.722-730.1967

System for the Investigation of the Bacteriophage-directed Synthesis of Diphtherial Toxin

Morihiro Matsuda a,1, Lane Barksdale a
PMCID: PMC276501  PMID: 4960184

Abstract

Lytic corynebacteriophage βhv64tox+ has been characterized, and methods for studying the expression of its tox+ gene in nontoxinogenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae strain C7s(−)tox− described. During one cycle of viral growth there was a 1 million-fold increase in extracellular toxin. Both the conditions of the experiment and the use of purified phage, free from toxin, support the conclusion that all of the toxin was newly formed. This toxin was immunochemically indistinguishable from standard toxin produced by the PW8r(Pdi)tox+ strain. Chloramphenicol was found to be an effective agent for synchronizing the initiation of viral growth. Once chloramphenicol was removed, intracellular toxin appeared and continued to increase throughout the latent period. Proflavine, added early in the latent period, blocked phage maturation without similarly affecting yields of toxin. Iron exerted a limited inhibitory effect on final toxin levels attained.

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Selected References

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

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