Bacteriophage adsorption efficiency and its effect on amplification.

Existing models for bacteriophage adsorption are modified with the addition of a new term, adsorption efficiency, and applied to a T4-Escherichia coli system. The adsorption efficiency is the fraction of phage that adsorbs irreversibly to the host. Adsorption kinetics were modeled using the adsorption rate constant(k) and the adsorption efficiency(epsilon). Experimental data demonstrated that the adsorption rate constant depends strongly on the condition of the host while the adsorption efficiency is a property of the bacteriophage population. The adsorption efficiency exhibited a marked dependence on the concentration of L-tryptophan. The system was used to study the effect of adsorption kinetics on bacteriophage amplification. Increasing adsorption efficiency had an effect similar to increasing the initial multiplicity of infection; the number of phages produced during amplification decreased. Optimizing the adsorption efficiency by manipulating the L-tryptophan concentration yielded a 14-fold increase in the number of phages produced.