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Abstract
Summary : Phagolessin A58, an antibiotic having antiphage activity, was found to have an action which induced the lytic cycle in some strains of lysogenic bacteria. Four different lysogenic organisms were tested : Bacillus megaterium 899 ; Escherichia coli FCb; E. coli Temple; E. coli Lampert. Two of the organisms were induced by phagolessin A58 and two were not. There appeared to be a relationship between the susceptibility of a given strain to induction by ultraviolet irradiation and to induction by phagolessin A58. The four different phages carried by the respective lysogenic strains were inactivated to a greater or lesser extent by phagolessin A 58, but there was no correlation between such sensitivity on the part of the carried phage and inducibility of the particular lysogenic strain. Serial transfers of the four lysogenic strains in broth containing phagolessin A58 were made in an attempt to produce non-lysogenic, phage-sensitive mutants. With only one organism, Baciltus megaterium 899, did this treatment result in the selection of such a mutant. Some of the chemical and biological properties of phagolessin A58 were
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