LIGHT AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPE STUDIES OF MYCOBACTERIUM—MYCOBACTERIOPHAGE INTERACTIONS

Abstract

The process of multiplication of mycobacteriophage B-1 in its host cell was studied by means of an improved technic of ultrathin sectioning. The appearance of the nuclear apparatus was not altered throughout the latent period. Phage-shaped dense particles appeared about 30 minutes after infection in less dense areas neighboring the nuclear apparatus and occasionally at the margin of the nuclear apparatus. The less dense areas, which may correspond to the phage multiplication foci according to the authors' interpretation, were not filled with such arrays of fine-stranded fibrils as are seen in the nuclear apparatus. Empty phage heads could frequently be seen within and outside the lysed cells, along with the mature phage particles, at the end of the latent period. Moreover, it was indicated that empty head membranes may possibly exist within the cells during the latent period