Fastening of Phage Particles to Bacterial Cell 

 A. S. TiKHONENKO and A. E. Kriss 



Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, Moscow 



RusKA (5) was the first to communicate tliat bac- 

 teriophages of spermatozoon-lil<.e shape fasten them- 

 selves to the surface of bacterial cells by their tails. 

 Later on a number of other investigators (1, 2, 3, 4) 

 subscribed to this opinion. 



Anderson ( 1 ) considers that fastening of the phage 

 particle to the cell by its tail is not random. In such 

 position the internal content of the phage particle — 

 desoxyribonucleic acid — passes directly to the bacte- 

 rial cell. Different position of phage particles on the 

 surface of bacteria — by their head or side part — is 

 considered by Anderson as a result of drying effect. 



However, drying itself cannot change the set 

 distribution of phage particles, for the drop of 

 liquid, which contains bacterial cells with a phage, is 

 placed on the film after a period of time which is 

 sufficient for adsorption. 



In figs. 1 and 2, the phage particles are seen in 

 different positions fitting closely to the surface of 

 the bacterial cell. 



When phagolysates are filtered through asbestos 

 filters in Zeitz device, small particles of asbestos 

 appear in the ultrafiltrate. 



It appeared that on these asbestos filaments phage 

 particles position themselves in the same manner 

 as on bacteria. Phage particles of Bact. lactis aero- 

 genes mostly fit to asbestos filament by their tails 

 (figs. 3 and 4), and among particles with convex 



-- i 



I 



1 



Figs. 1 and 2. The phage particles of i?(/r. /».ico/(/(^sin difter- 

 ent positions fitting close to the surface of tlie bacterial cell. 



Fig. 3. The phage particles of Bact. lactis aerogeiies fitting 

 close to the asbestos filaments by their tails. 



Fig. 4. The phage particle of Bact. lactis aerogenes with 

 flattened and electron-transparent head fitting close to the 

 asbestos filament by its tail (shown by pointer). 



Fig. 5. The phage particle of Bact. lactis aerogenes with 

 electron-transparent head that fits to the surface of the 

 bacterial cell (shown by pointers). From ref. (I). 



Fig. 6. The phage particles of Act. globisponis fitting to the 

 asbestos filament by their heads. 



solid heads, particles with a flattened and more 

 transparent head are found (fig. 4). They remind of 

 the phage particles mentioned by Anderson (fig. 5) 

 as "ghosts". 



In Fig. 3 it is clearly seen that it is the tails deprived 

 of heads that fit to the asbestos filaments. 



The phage particles of Act. globisponis, on the 

 contrary, position themselves on the asbestos fila- 

 ments mostly by their heads, often forming large 

 accumulations (fig. 6). More seldom the phage parti- 

 cles of Act. globisponis fasten themselves by their 

 tails. 



These observations do not support the assump- 

 tion that the tail serves for transmitting phage 

 material into the bacterial cell. The character of 

 positioning of phage particles on the surface of 

 bacterial cells as well as on other bodies has no spe- 

 cific significance. 



LiTERATUR 



1. Anderson, T., Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quant. 



Biol., 18, 197 (1953). 



2. MovsESiAN, A., BiRiuzovA, v., and Zolkover, A., 



Zhiirnal mikrobiologii, epiclemiologii i iiiinuiuobiologii 

 N 4, 61 (1950.) 



3. OvcHAROVA, C, BiRiuzovA, V., and Zolkover, A., 



Zhiinial i)iil<rohiologii, epiclemiologii i iininiinbiologii 

 9, 9 (1950). 



4. Penso, G., Proc. Symp. on the Interaction of Viruses 



and Cells, p. 58. 1953. 



5. RusKA, H., Ergeb. Hyg. Bakteriol. Imniioiitcitforscli. ii. 



e.xptl. Tlierap. 25, 437 (1943). 



