Bacterial virus T3 undergoes host-controlled modification which is not based on "classical" processes of DNA modification and restriction. The adsorption and thus the growth of T3 on Escherichia coli W cells (E. coli K12 derivative) decisively depends on the host strain on which the virus was previously propagated. Depending on the modification conferred to the virus by its last host, its efficiency of plating (e.0.p.) on E. coli W varies by six orders of magnitude between lo-' and lo-'. This does not reflect the appearance of T3 host-range mutants, but a fully reversible modification of genotypically unchanged T3 wild-type phage.The behaviour of T3 in the described host system constitutes a second case of so-called nonclassical modification and restriction ( KRUGER et al. 1977, Molec. gen. Genet. 153, 107-110) of bacteriophages. Non-classical modification (protein modification) is additive to and independent of DNA modification and restriction as demonstrated with the ocr-phage T3/R7. -Furthermore, our results suggest that the adsorption specificity of T3 is determined by a t least two independent genetic factors; in both of these factors T3 differs from T7.When bacteriophage T7 is passaged between different E. coli B strains all possessing the EcoB DNA specificity it is subject to a clear phenotypical modification and restriction (KRUGER et al. 1976). This phenomenon was termed "non-classical" modification and restriction by us, since it is not based on the "classical" mechanism of modification and restriction of phage DNA but on reversible changes in the phage's adsorption behaviour, depending on coat protein modification by the last host cell (KRUGER et al. 1977a Table 6). We report here that, in contrast to the stable host-range behaviour of T7 and the T3hw mutant, adsorption and thus the plating efficiency (e.0.p.) of T3 wild type on E. coli W depend on the host on which the phage was last grown. The e.0.p. varies from lo-' to 10-1 while being fully reversible, excluding the selection of host-range mutants. A preliminary report of these results was published elsewhere (KRUGER et al. 1980).
il.lccterittb und methodsCell and virus strains: The bacteria strains are presented in Table 1. Phages T3 and T7 are from the collection of our institute. The host-range mutant T3hw is described by KRUGER et al. (1979).