ABSTRACT
An exception to receptor presence being necessary for reversability concerns an isolate of Propionibacterium acnes studied by Ziert and Wertlake.63 This variant, from fatal subacute bacterial endocarditis . had lost phage receptors in all stages except the reverted classical form.C. ;
Staphylococci of different phage types have varied responses to methicillin in production L-phase colonies . Group III phage type are the most easily converted to L-colonies, as shown by Hamburger and Carleton24 and by Fatma and Abla. 18
A remarkable characteristic of some classical bacteria also occurs in their wall-deficient variants . This i s the release of a large yield of phage without a detectable rupture of the bacterial wall. This occurs with phage x <I> 1 74, a tail-bearing phage with large capsomeres containing single-stranded DNA, as noted by Bradley. I I
The loss of phage receptors in wall-depicted microbes is expected. Conversely, a surprising phe nomenon was noticed by Hara and coworkers .25 When a phage-resistant strain of E. coli was induced to spheroplasts with EDTA-Iysozyme or polymyxin E, it acquired exquisite sensitivity to the coliphage T4. This suggests that certain phage receptors may be inaccessible in the classical bacteria.
