Effect of ribonucleic acid phage superinfection on lysis-inhibited Escherichia coli.

Groman, Neal B. (University of Washington, Seattle), and Grace Suzuki. Effect of ribonucleic acid phage superinfection on lysis-inhibited Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 90:1007-1012. 1965.-Induced culturesof Escherichia coli K-12(lambda112)F(+) were superinfected with ribonucleic acid phage f2 at various times to test for the specificity of lysis inhibition and the concurrent inhibition of growth. When f2 superinfection occurred within 90 min after induction, lysis was observed in normally lysis-inhibited cultures. Later superinfections produced very little lysis. Following early superinfection, both lambda112 and f2 phages were produced in induced cells. When superinfection occurred during the period in which growth was inhibited, f2 production was totally inhibited. The inhibition of f2 was not due to its inability to adsorb, nor was it due to damage inflicted on cells by ultraviolet irradiation or to exhaustion of the medium. The data suggest that inhibition of lysis of induced K-12(lambda112)F(+) is phage-specific, whereas the accompanying inhibition of growth is nonspecific.