Chemical studies in host-virus interactions; a method of determining nutritional requirements for bacterial virus multiplication.

Using the one-step growth technique the production of the virus T2 in its host, measured by latent period and burst size, was shown to depend on the nutritional environment of the host cell. When E. coli, grown in broth, was transferred to a simple medium, single organic compounds such as some amino acids and nucleosides were found to increase or accelerate the synthesis of virus. An antimetabolite of glutamic acid, an amino acid important for virus synthesis, was shown to be inhibitory. Several naturally occurring amino acids, leucine, serine, and cysteine, inhibited virus synthesis in the simple medium. A chemically defined mixture was found which supported a rate of virus synthesis very nearly comparable to that found for host cells in nutrient broth.