Characterization of Bacillus subtilis Bacteriophages

Abstract

A group of six phages, SP5, SP6, SP7, SP8, SP9, and SP13, which use the Marburg strain of Bacillus subtilis as host was characterized. These phages, referred to as group 1, were examined for the following properties: host range, plaque morphology, stability, adsorption kinetics, one-step growth characteristics, calcium requirements, serum neutralization, thermal inactivation, and inactivation by ultraviolet irradiation. Five unrelated B. subtilis phages, SP3, SP10, PBS1, SP alpha, and SP beta, were included in the studies. When first isolated, none of the group 1 phages was able to replicate efficiently on B. subtilis SB19, a mutant of the "transforming" B. subtilis 168. Host range mutants capable of growth in SB19 were isolated for all of the group 1 phages except SP13, and are designated the "star" phages (SP5* through SP9*). For characterizationi, SB19 was used as host for the star phages, and another B. subtilis mutant, 168B, was host for SP13.

Bacteriophages of Bacillus subtilis.

“…Brodetsky and Romig (37) reported that many newly isolated B. subtilis phages can be propagated initially only on the host strain used in their enrichment and isolation. Upon subsequent propagation, "star" variants were isolated which had extended host ranges.…”

Host macromolecular synthesis in bacteriophage-infected Bacillus subtilis.

“…Nutritionally less exacting than other organisms in which transformation has been studied, density and radioactive identification of macromolecular components in B. subtilis can be carried out with relative ease. Independent B. subtilis phage isolates have been studied by Romig and Brodetsky (2,22), by Marmur and Greenspan (12), and more recently by Okubo et al (16), Foldes and Trautner (5), Reilly and Spizizen (20), and Green (6). In a large number of these viruses, thymine is replaced in the viral DNA by an unusual base.…”

Bacteriophage resistance in Bacillus subtilis 168, W23, and interstrain transformants

“…Glucosylated teichoic acid has also been shown to play an essential role in the attachment of some of the Bacillus bacteriophages to B. subtilis strain W23 (8,24). B. subtilis strains W23 and 168 differ in the content of their teichoic acids (5, 7) and their susceptibility to certain bacteriophages (3,16; B. E. Reilly, Ph.D. thesis, Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio, 1965). Furthermore, B. subtilis strain W23 is lysogenic for defective bacteriophage PBSZ, whereas strain 168 is lysogenic for defective bacteriophage PBSX (14,18).…”