Requirement for a functional host cell autolytic enzyme system for lysis of Escherichia coli by bacteriophage phi X174.

Escherichia coli VC30 is a temperature-sensitive mutant which is defective in autolysis. Strain VC30 lyses at 30 degrees C when treated with beta-lactam antibiotics or D-cycloserine or when deprived of diaminiopimelic acid. The same treatments inhibit growth of the mutant at 42 degrees C but do not cause lysis. Strain VC30 was used here to investigate the mechanism of host cell lysis induced by bacteriophage phi X 174. Strain VC30 was transformed with plasmid pUH12, which carries the cloned lysis gene (gene E) of phage phi X174 under the control of the lac operator-promoter, and with plasmid pMC7, which encodes the lac repressor to keep the E gene silent. Infection of strain VC30(pUH12)(pMC7) with phage phi X174 culminated in lysis at 30 degrees C. At 42 degrees C, intracellular phage development was normal, but lysis did not occur unless a temperature downshift to 30 degrees C was imposed. Similarly, induction of the cloned phi X174 gene E with isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside resulted in lysis at 30 degrees C but not at 42 degrees C. Temperature downshift of the induced culture to 30 degrees C resulted in lysis even in the presence of chloramphenicol. These results indicate that host cell lysis by phage phi X174 is dependent on a functional cellular autolytic enzyme system.