The first step of bacteriophage (phage) infection is the attachment of the phage virion onto a susceptible host cell. This adsorption process is usually described by mass-action kinetics, which implicitly assume an equal influence of host density and adsorption rate on the adsorption process. Therefore, an environment with high host density can be considered as equivalent to a phage endowed wit...

The structure of bacteriophage lambda has been studied by electron microscopy of negatively stained particles. The phage particles will eject their DNA if they are heated or dialyzed against a chelating agent. The ghost particles, so formed, have a channel running down their tails. Since the channel is not visible in normal particles, the channel may be filled with part of the DNA molecule. Up ...

Bacteriophage SfV is a temperate serotype-converting phage of Shigella flexneri. SfV encodes the factors involved in type V O-antigen modification, and the serotype conversion and integration-excision modules of the phage have been isolated and characterized. We now report on the complete sequence of the SfV genome (37,074 bp). A total of 53 open reading frames were predicted from the nucleotid...

The position and orientation of genes in lambda and lambda dg DNA are described. The position of six genes located in the right half of isolated lambda DNA was found to be -(N, i(lambda))--O-P---Q-R-(right end of DNA), which is their order on the genetic map of the vegetative phage. The order of the three genes of the galactose operon (k, t, and e) located in the left half of lambda dg DNA was ...

A previously described segment of African green monkey DNA (cloned in phage lambda MkA) contains deca-satellite linked to DNA sequences that are estimated to occur once per genome. Sequences homologous to the low copy number sequences in lambda MkA are also associated with species-specific satellite DNAs in the human and mouse genomes. A second clone, lambda Mk8, contains a monkey DNA region th...

Bacteriophage D3112 represents one of two distinct groups of transposable phage found in the clinically relevant, opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To further our understanding of transposable phage in P. aeruginosa, we have sequenced the complete genome of D3112. The genome is 37,611 bp, with an overall G+C content of 65%. We have identified 53 potential open reading frames, inclu...

The DNA strands of lambdoid phages with deletions or substitutions of the guanine plus cytosine-rich region in the left arm are not resolvable by complexing with poly UG followed by centrifugation in CsCl. This work describes a completely general procedure for the strand resolution of these phages by hybridization with fragments of separated strands of the parent phage. In particular, resolutio...

The inactivation of the phages T1, T2, T3, T5, T7, and lambda by decay of incorporated P(32) has been studied. It was found that these phages fall into two classes of sensitivity to P(32) decay: at the same specific activity of P(32) in their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), T2 and T5 are inactivated three times as rapidly as T1, T3, T7, and lambda. Since the strains of the first class were found t...

Several approaches for the inactivation of bacteriophage lambda, including UV germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and the chemical agents Virkon-S, Chloros, Decon-90, and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), were compared. Virkon, NaOH, and UVGI caused a ≥7-log(10) reduction in phage titers. This study successfully describes several methods with potential for bacteriophage inactivation in industrial settings.

We have measured the conductivity s along the lambda phage DNA l-DNA double helix at microwave frequencies using lyophilized DNA in and also without a buffer. The conductivity is strongly temperature dependent around room temperature with a crossover to a weakly temperature dependent conductivity at low temperatures. Removal of the water mantle around the double helix leads to reduced conductiv...