THE ACTION OF T2 BACTERIOPHAGE GHOSTS ON ESCHERICHIA COLI B

Abstract

A study of the physiological effects of T2 ghosts, prepared by the method of Anderson, has been made. It was found that 75% of the ghosts can be adsorbed to host cells as measured with S³⁵. Of these, only 10 to 35% are killers. The remainder, although adsorbed, do not prevent colony formation. A number of experiments, both in liquid culture and on agar plates, show that the effect of this latter class of particles is a temporary one. They lead to an arrest in bacterial multiplication, to a very marked inhibition of protein synthesis (as measured by S³⁵ uptake and β-galactosidase synthesis), to exclusion of either T2 or T1 phage, to continued respiration as with a phage infected cell, and to P³² uptake approaching that to be expected from the number of cells not killed. At about 80 min., these cells reverse the action of the ghosts and resume all their normal metabolic activities.