[Isolation and characteristics of Salmonella typhimurium mutants with a disrupted process of generating nonculturable forms].

A laboratory model of the induction of nonculturable forms in Salmonella typhimurium has been developed. Mutants of S. typhimurium were obtained using insertion mutagenesis via the TnPhoA transposon. These mutants were impaired in the cell transition from the vegetative to the nonculturable state assayed in this model. Mutants have various phenotypes and are located in different regions of the chromosome, as shown by the data obtained using pulsed-field electrophoresis of genomic DNA.