Effect of Osmotic Shock and Low Salt Concentration on Survival and Density of Bacteriophages T4B and T4Bo1

Measurements of survival and buoyant densities of bacteriophages T4B, T4Bo(1), and T4D have demonstrated the following: (a) After suspension in a concentrated salt solution, T4B and T4D are sensitive both to osmotic shock and to subsequent exposure to low monovalent salt concentrations. (b) Sensitivity of T4B to dilution from a concentrated salt solution is dependent on dilution rate, that of T4D is less dependent, and that of T4Bo(1) is independent. (c) Sensitivity of all three phages to low salt concentrations depends on initial salt concentrations to a variable extent. (d) Density gradient profiles indicate that nearly half of osmotically shocked T4B retain their DNA. Similar analysis demonstrates that few, if any, T4Bo(1) lose DNA when subjected to a treatment causing 90% loss of infectivity. (e) The effective buoyant densities of T4B and T4Bo(1) depend significantly on the dilution treatments to which the phages are subjected prior to centrifugation in CsCl gradients. These data are explicable in terms of the different relative permeabilities of the phages to water and solutes, and of alterations in the counterion distribution surrounding the DNA within the phage heads.