Morphologic homogeneity of bacteriophages and their biological activity.
Lytic activity of morphologically homogeneous phage lysates, obtained from lysates containing morphologically inhomogeneous virions, was studied. Five series of phage lysates found to contain morphologically inhomogeneous virions were investigated. By selecting suitable hosts from each series, two or three lines were obtained which reproduced morphologically homogeneous virions. Morphologic homogeneity of these phage lines was determined by electron microscopy. In the course of this study it was found that phages with different morphologic appearance can produce similar plaques. Hence, appearance of plaques is not an adequate criterion of homogeneity of the phage. The isolated phages differed in biological activity from the original morphologically inhomogeneous bacteriophage. It was concluded that morphology is an important, and the most reliable at present, criterion of homogeneity of bacteriophages.
D001433:Bacteriolysis; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D012483:Salmonella Phages / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012760:Shigella / Q000145:classification*