Morphological features of a filamentous phage of Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal

Microbiol Immunol. 1997;41(10):757-63. doi: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.1997.tb01923.x.

Abstract

A filamentous phage was isolated from carrier strain AI-1841 of Vibrio cholerae 0139 Bengal and thus was termed fs phage. The phage was measured to be approximately 1 microm in length and 6 nm in width. One end of the phage was slightly tapered and had a fibrous appendage. The plaques developed on strain AI-4450 of V. cholerae 0139 were small and turbid. The phage grew in strain AI-4450 and reached a size of 10(8) to 10(9) pfu/ml at 5 hr after infection without inducing any lysis of the host bacteria. The group of phages attached on rod-shaped materials like fimbriae of this bacteria, with their fibrous appendages at the pointed end, were often found in the phage-infected culture. The anti-fimbrial serum effectively inhibited the infection of fs phage to the host strain AI-4450. We thus concluded that the phage can be adsorbed on fimbriae with a fibrous appendage on the pointed end of the phage filament.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adsorption
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / immunology
  • Bacteriophages / chemistry
  • Bacteriophages / growth & development
  • Bacteriophages / isolation & purification
  • Bacteriophages / ultrastructure*
  • DNA, Viral / metabolism
  • Deoxyribonuclease HindIII / metabolism
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Fimbriae, Bacterial / immunology
  • Fimbriae, Bacterial / virology
  • Microscopy, Electron
  • Single-Strand Specific DNA and RNA Endonucleases / metabolism
  • Vibrio cholerae / virology*
  • Viral Plaque Assay
  • Viral Proteins / analysis

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • DNA, Viral
  • Viral Proteins
  • Deoxyribonuclease HindIII
  • Single-Strand Specific DNA and RNA Endonucleases