Characteristics of bacteriophages for Micromonospora purpurea.

Chemical and physical stabilities of bacteriophages øUW 21 and øUW 51 infecting Micromonospora purpurea ATCC 15835 were examined. Both phages were stable over the pH range of 5 to 8 and to heating at temperatures up to 50 degrees C and especially stable in buffer containing magnesium ion. Exposure to 1 M Ca(NO3)2 inactivated both phages, and phage øUW 51 was also susceptible to 1 M CaCl2, 0.1 M tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane, and 0.3% H2O2. Phage plating efficiency was highest on the cultures at logarithmic phase and sometimes much influenced by host growth. Phage øUW 51 has a latent period of 2 h at 34 degrees C and a burst size between 35 and 40. The latent period for phage øUW 21 is about 12 h, and the burst size is smaller than 30.