[Bacteriophage occurrence in "Mycobacterium phlei" (author's transl)].

Surface growth of synchronized bacteria was obtained by means of a suspension of Mycobacterium phlei cells in pentane, the dispersion of which resulted from passage through glass (Ballotini) column. By using standardized conditions, a series of identical cultures were obtained, suitable for studying their evolution as a function of time. By counting colonies every twenty minutes, during ten hours, two doublings were observed, with a generation time of five hours. At the end of a plateau, just before the next doubling, the curve exhibited a marked decrease. Bacteriophages were found in culture medium at the time corresponding to this decrease. In thin sections of the pellicles collected at this time, condensations resembling DNA from phage heads could be noticed within the bacterial cells, as well as free phages in th close neighbourhood of burst cells. The relations between phage and bacteria, and the possible relation between the presence of the phage and the synthesis of phleates has not been determined.