Characterization of a Thermophilic Bacteriophage for Bacillus stearothermophilus

Abstract

Saunders, Grady F. (University of Illinois, Urbana), and L. Leon Campbell . Characterization of a thermophilic bacteriophage for Bacillus stearothermophilus . J. Bacteriol. 91: 340–348. 1965.—The biological and physical-chemical properties of the thermophilic bacteriophage TP-84 were investigated. TP-84 was shown to be lytic for 3 of 24 strains of Bacillus stearothermophilus tested over the temperature range of 43 to 76 C. The latent period of TP-84 on B. stearothermophilus strain 10 was 22 to 24 min. TP-84 has a hexagonal head, 53 mμ in diameter and 30 mμ on a side; its tail is 130 mμ long and 3 to 5 mμ wide. The phage has an S 50 20,w of 436, and bands at a density of 1.508 g/cc in CsCl ( p H 8.5). The diffusion coefficient of TP-84 was calculated to be 6.19 × 10 −8 cm 2 /sec. From the sedimentation and diffusion data, a particle molecular weight of 50 million daltons was calculated for TP-84. The phage DNA has a base composition of 42% guanine + cytosine, deduced from buoyant density and melting temperature measurements.