Characterization of a Thermophilic Bacteriophage for Bacillus Stearothermophilus

Saunders, Grady F. (University of Illinois, Urbana), and L. Leon Campbell. Characterization of a thermophilic bacteriophage for Bacillus stearothermophilus. J. Bacteriol. 91:340-348. 1965.-The biological and physical-chemical properties of the thermophilic bacteriophage TP-84 were investigated. TP-84 was shown to be lytic for 3 of 24 strains of Bacillus stearothermophilus tested over the temperature range of 43 to 76 C. The latent period of TP-84 on B. stearothermophilus strain 10 was 22 to 24 min. TP-84 has a hexagonal head, 53 mmu in diameter and 30 mmu on a side; its tail is 130 mmu long and 3 to 5 mmu wide. The phage has an S(50) (20,w) of 436, and bands at a density of 1.508 g/cc in CsCl (pH 8.5). The diffusion coefficient of TP-84 was calculated to be 6.19 x 10(-8) cm(2)/sec. From the sedimentation and diffusion data, a particle molecular weight of 50 million daltons was calculated for TP-84. The phage DNA has a base composition of 42% guanine + cytosine, deduced from buoyant density and melting temperature measurements.