Lysogenic conversion of the lipase in Staphylococcus pyogenes group III strains

Abstract

Staphylococcus pyogenes PS54, the propagating strain of the group III staphylococcal typing phage 54, manifests no lipase activity on egg yolk medium. This strain was found to harbor at least two prophages. One of these, designated as L54a, was demonstrated to be capable of suppressing lipase production by lysogenic conversion of strains of Staphylococcus pyogenes previously manifesting lipase activity.Suspensions of typing phage 54 were also found to contain substrains of phage having the same conversion property, with respect to lipase activity, as L54a. These converting phages differed from L54a with respect to their ultrastructure and their lytic spectra. They may have arisen by means of recombination between non-converting typing phage 54 and the prophage L54a carried in the propagating strain of Staphylococcus.