Open AccessExtended host range of a β‐related corynebacteriophage
Author(s) -
Cianciotto Nicholas P.,
Groman Neal B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08340.x
Subject(s) - biology , corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis , corynebacterium diphtheriae , mutant , phagemid , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteriophage , locus (genetics) , mutagenesis , virology , bacteria , escherichia coli , gene , diphtheria , vaccination
Unlike most β‐related phages isolated from Corynebacterium diphtheriae , phage 782 readily plaqued on strains of C. ulcerans and C. pseudotuberculosis . The extended host range of phage 782 was not, however, due to a greater ability of the phage to adsorb to bacterial surfaces. Using chemical mutagenesis, a number of phage mutants were isolated which had diminished capacities to infect C. ulcerans , suggesting the existence of a locus ( ehr ) for extended host range. Pre‐lysogenization of C. ulcerans strains with phage 782, but not its mutant form or other β‐related phages, rendered them susceptible to infection by previously excluded phages. An examination of recombinants between phages 782, 17, and β localized ehr to a 7 kilobase region of DNA including attP . The data are compatible with the notion that ehr encodes an anti‐restriction function.