Stimulation of cell division by T4 infection in Escherichia coli dnaEts at nonpermissive temperature.

Filamentous cells resulting from growth of a dnaEts mutant of Escherichia coli at high temperature were stimulated to divide by infection with bacteriophage T4. The effect appears to be related to T4 DNA synthesis; no increase in cell number took place in chloramphenicol-treated. T4-infected cells nor in cells infected with DNA synthesis-less mutants of T4. The ability of cells to divide after T4 infection was dependent on the length of time that the cells had been grown at 42 degrees C, indicating that a potential for cell division accumulates during preincubation.