Morphology of staphylococcus bacteriophage P 1.

The group D staphylococcal phage P 1 was examined in the electron microscope after preparation by a variety of procedures. The virion was found to have an icosahedral capsid attached to a long contractile tail structure, the viral tail could be seen in partially contracted configurations. Morphological variants in the length of the sheath and needle were frequently found.