The B mycoides N host-virus system. II. Interrelation of phage growth, bacterial multiplication, and lysis in infections of the indicator strain of B. mycoides N with phage N in nutrient broth.

In nutrient broth at 30 to 32 degrees C., the cycle of virus growth (following adsorption) in lag phase cells of B. mycoides N included a period of intracellular multiplication, ranging from 0.8 to 1.3 hours, succeeded by a sharp rise in the free phage titer and then by a slower rise or a plateau in the extracellular phage content. The yield of virus per infected cell at 30 degrees C., as determined by a modified Burnet dilution technique, was about 76 plaque-forming particles. During the latent period, multiply infected cells showed no change in numbers. Coinciding with phage release, incomplete clearing occurred. The unlysed, remaining cells multiplied and the turbidity rose again. These survivors and their progeny were lysogenic.