GROWTH OF MALE-SPECIFIC BACTERIOPHAGE IN PROTEUS MIRABILIS HARBORING F-GENOTES DERIVED FROM ESCHERICHIA COLI.

Horiuchi, Kensuke (Yale University, New Haven, Conn.), and Edward A. Adelberg. Growth of male-specific bacteriophage in Proteus mirabilis harboring F-genotes derived from Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 89:1231-1236. 1965.-Male-specific bacteriophage MS2 was shown to infect and grow in Proteus mirabilis strains which harbor F-genotes derived from Escherichia coli K-12. The burst size was 2,000 to 3,000, which is similar to that in E. coli K-12, whereas the latent period was 45 min, definitely longer than that in E. coli. In spite of the multiplication of MS2 in male P. mirabilis in broth, P. mirabilis strains failed to show plaque formation by MS2 on agar plates; this failure may be related to the low efficiency of phage adsorption. No host-controlled modification of MS2 by P. mirabilis was detected.