Inducible bacteriophages from ruminal bacteria.

The incidence of temperate bacteriophage in a wide range of ruminal bacteria was investigated by means of induction with mitomycin C. Supernatant liquid from treated cultures was examined for phagelike particles by using transmission electron microscopy. Of 38 ruminal bacteria studied, nine organisms (23.7%) representing five genera (Eubacteria, Bacteroides, Butyrivibrio, Ruminococcus, and Streptococcus) produced phagelike particles. Filamentous particles from Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens are the first of this morphological type reported from ruminal bacteria. All of the other particles obtained possessed polyhedral heads and long, noncontractile tails (group B-type phage). The limited range of morphological types produced by mitomycin C induction cannot yet account for the much wider range of types found in ruminal contents by direct examination. The presence of viral genetic material in a significant percentage of the bacteria tested, as well as in a range of different genera, indicates that viral genetic material may be a normal constituent of the genome of appreciable numbers of ruminal bacteria.