Induction, purification and some properties of phage tail-like particles from Myxococcus coralloides D.

Myxococcus coralloides D was lysogenic for a defective prophage. The particles of the defective bacteriophage could be induced by ultraviolet light and mitomycin C, but the particles did not appear in the supernatants, unless the cells were lysed with chloroform. The phage tails were purified by using a two-phase separation method, ultracentrifugation, chromatography through Sepharose 4B, treatment with chloroform, dialysis and centrifugation on a sucrose gradient. The chemical analysis of the purified samples revealed that the phage tails contained only proteins, neither DNA nor RNA. The different parts of the phage tails (sheath, core and baseplate) did not have the same sensitivity to the chemical and physical agents which were assayed.