Biochemical Studies of Lysogeny

Abstract

Since most of our information concerning the chemistry of bacteriophage replication has been derived from study of the virulent phages, it was of interest to examine the comparable processes with the temperate phage, lambda (X), which lysogenizes Escherichia coli strain K12X.In this system, in which viral replication is induced by ultraviolet light, the following aspects have been studied: (a) the origin of the deoxyribonucleic acid of the viral progeny; (b) the behavior of host ribonucleic acid during induction; (c) the distribution of phosphorus among the constituents of the host before and after induction; (d) the composition of the acid-soluble components of the host cell after induction.In addition, since X can cause a virulent infection in E. coli strain W-1485, a comparison was made between the properties of the virus obtained under these circumstances and those of the virus originating from K12X after ultraviolet induction.No difference in the virus produced under these various conditions could be detected by the methods used.EXPERIMENTAL