The action of the Yersinia pestis phage on the plague envelope antigen and the human erythrocytes.

The activity of the Yersinia pestis phage on the plague envelope antigen has been described. The purified envelope antigen was shown to possess the receptor properties. The phage caused changes of viscosity and hemagglutination properties of the antigen. The phage-treated antigen showed the additional precipitation arc in the immunoelectrophoretic investigations. The adsorption of the Yersinia pestis phage on the sheep and human erythrocytes was examined. The human red cells of group B exhibited the highest receptor properties for the Yersinia pestis phage.