Genetic basis of toxin production and pathogenesis in Vibrio cholerae: evidence against phage conversion.

The pathogenicity of Vibrio cholerae strains "cured" of "Kappa-type" phage was not significantly altered relative to that of their "Kappa" lysogenic parental strains. Unlike Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the capacity of V. cholerae to produce exotoxin was not stimulated as a consequence of active phage multiplication. Toxin production in cultures in which Kappa-type phage multiplication was initiated either by inducing Kappa lysogens or by infecting naturally occurring or "cured" Kappa-sensitive strains was greatly reduced compared to normally growing control cultures. Kappa-sensitive El Tor strain Mak 757 and a Kappa lysogen derived from it did not differ in their capacity to colonize ligated rabbit ileal loops nor in their sensitivites to ultraviolet radiation, acidic pH, or osmotic shock. We conclude that Kappa-type phages do not directly affect the pathogenicity of these V. cholerae strains.