Resistance of a Bacillus subtilis mutant to a group of temperate bacteriophages.

A mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 was isolated which resists infection by all the group III temperate bacteriophages except SPR, while allowing full infection by phages of the other groups (I, II and IV). The mutation conferring this phenotype, pha-3, shows 52-54% PBS1-mediated cotransduction with the hisAl marker, mapping therefore in the gtaA and gtaB region of the B. subtilis chromosome. Nevertheless, it does not affect the infection by phages sensitive to gta mutations.