14
D. E. MAHONY
inducible with Mitomycin C. The temperate nature of two of the phages
was confirmed by serially passing the lysogenic strains through phagespecific antisera. Transduction attempts with these phages were unsuccessful.
Paquette and Fredette (1977) described four temperate phages of C.
perfringens type A in a study where ten of 23 strains were found to carry
phages. One of the phages had complex morphology similar to that
described earlier by Vieu et al. (1965) and to the free phages of Hirano and
Yonekura (1967). The other phages had simple tail structures. The latent
periods of three of the phages ranged from 20 to 30 min with bursts of
90-145 pfu. One lysogenic strain was inducible with UV irradiation.
A bacteriophage isolated from one of three lysogenic strains of C .
histolyticum was described by GuClin et al. (1966). Only one of 14 strains
was sensitive to this phage. Adsorption of this phage appeared to be slower
when heat-killed cells were used. Electron photomicrographs of the phage
showed a 80 nm polyhedral head, a 240 nm striated tail, and end plates
30 nm in width.
Popovitch and Sebald (1967) isolated 14 phages active on C. histolyticum
and used these to type 34 strains of the species. Nine lysotypes were observed; one strain was not typable. Phage stocks had a titre of at least
108 pfu. The data presented in this paper have been reconstructed in the
light of potential phage typing and are presented in Table I. Some isolated
phages are interesting because they have a host range extending to other
clostridial species (Sebald and Popovitch, 1967).
Clostridium sporogenes is associated with gas gangrene infections. Frenkel
(1940) first described the isolation of a phage of C. sporogenes from river
water. In 1964, Betz and Anderson isolated four more phages from soil
and sewage and studied them with eight phages obtained from Dr L. S.
McClung of Indiana University. These 12 phages constituted three groups
based upon plaque morphology, host range, receptor sites and serological
relationships. None of 25 strains of C. sporogenes tested was lysogenic
although bacteriocin-like substances were produced by nine and 20 were
sensitive to one or more bacteriocins. Six of the above phages were studied
by electron microscopy and information related to one-step growth and
DNA characterisation was presented (Betz, 1968). Most of these phages
had elongated six-sided heads and simple, tubular, non-contractile tails.
Latent periods were about 1 h and average yield sizes ranged from 17 to
150 pfu/ml. The guanine plus cytosine ratio of the phage DNA (39.5%)
exceeded that of the host bacteria (33.2%). Although these authors were
not pursuing a typing scheme, a number of phage and bacteriocin typing
patterns might be extractable from their data.
The intracellular development of one of these phages (Fl) has been
D. E. MAHONY
inducible with Mitomycin C. The temperate nature of two of the phages
was confirmed by serially passing the lysogenic strains through phagespecific antisera. Transduction attempts with these phages were unsuccessful.
Paquette and Fredette (1977) described four temperate phages of C.
perfringens type A in a study where ten of 23 strains were found to carry
phages. One of the phages had complex morphology similar to that
described earlier by Vieu et al. (1965) and to the free phages of Hirano and
Yonekura (1967). The other phages had simple tail structures. The latent
periods of three of the phages ranged from 20 to 30 min with bursts of
90-145 pfu. One lysogenic strain was inducible with UV irradiation.
A bacteriophage isolated from one of three lysogenic strains of C .
histolyticum was described by GuClin et al. (1966). Only one of 14 strains
was sensitive to this phage. Adsorption of this phage appeared to be slower
when heat-killed cells were used. Electron photomicrographs of the phage
showed a 80 nm polyhedral head, a 240 nm striated tail, and end plates
30 nm in width.
Popovitch and Sebald (1967) isolated 14 phages active on C. histolyticum
and used these to type 34 strains of the species. Nine lysotypes were observed; one strain was not typable. Phage stocks had a titre of at least
108 pfu. The data presented in this paper have been reconstructed in the
light of potential phage typing and are presented in Table I. Some isolated
phages are interesting because they have a host range extending to other
clostridial species (Sebald and Popovitch, 1967).
Clostridium sporogenes is associated with gas gangrene infections. Frenkel
(1940) first described the isolation of a phage of C. sporogenes from river
water. In 1964, Betz and Anderson isolated four more phages from soil
and sewage and studied them with eight phages obtained from Dr L. S.
McClung of Indiana University. These 12 phages constituted three groups
based upon plaque morphology, host range, receptor sites and serological
relationships. None of 25 strains of C. sporogenes tested was lysogenic
although bacteriocin-like substances were produced by nine and 20 were
sensitive to one or more bacteriocins. Six of the above phages were studied
by electron microscopy and information related to one-step growth and
DNA characterisation was presented (Betz, 1968). Most of these phages
had elongated six-sided heads and simple, tubular, non-contractile tails.
Latent periods were about 1 h and average yield sizes ranged from 17 to
150 pfu/ml. The guanine plus cytosine ratio of the phage DNA (39.5%)
exceeded that of the host bacteria (33.2%). Although these authors were
not pursuing a typing scheme, a number of phage and bacteriocin typing
patterns might be extractable from their data.
The intracellular development of one of these phages (Fl) has been