STUDIES ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIRUS AND HOST CELL: THE PREPARATION OF T2r+BACTERIOPHAGE LABELLED WITH RADIOACTIVE PHOSPHORUS

Abstract

T2r⁺bacteriophage grown in its host, Escherichia coli B, in broth medium in the presence of radioactive inorganic phosphorus was labelled with the isotope. Purified suspensions of this virus had specific activities up to 50,000 c.p.m. per μgm. P. There was little or no exchange of P³²between virus and inorganic phosphate. Chemical analysis showed that at least 98% of the virus phosphorus was contained in nucleic acid; of the nucleic acid phosphorus 95.5% was associated with desoxypentose nucleic acid and 4.5% with pentose nucleic acid. More than 99% of the radioactivity of the labelled bacteriophage was contained in the nucleic acid fraction. Preparations of bacteriophage were obtained with sufficiently high specific activity to enable metabolism experiments to be carried out on the growth of the labelled virus in the host cell.