Electron Microscopic Evidence for a Bacteriophage Cycle in Diphtheroids Observed in Human Skin*

Autor: Mollie E. McBride, Leopoldo F. Montes, C. Alan Phillips, S. H. Black
Rok vydání: 1966
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 47:466-474
ISSN: 0022-202X
DOI: 10.1038/jid.1966.170
Popis: Bacteriophages are characterized by a cyclic growth. When placed into cultures of sensitive bacteria, bacteriophages become adsorbed to the bacterial surface (1, 2, 3) to which they attach with their tails (4). Afterwards, a small portion of the bacterial cell wall is dissolved and the terminal part of the phage tail penetrates the bacterium. Following this, the protein of the bacterium becomes modified into virus protein, the amount of nucleic acid increases, and the bacterium is filled with new phage particles. In a final stage the bacterial cell envelope undergoes lysis, the bacterial protoplast “bursts, and infectious viral particles are released into the culture medium (Fig. 1).During an ultrastructural investigation of lesions of erythrasma (5), we obtained evidence for this cycle of bacteriophage development in human skin. The purpose of this report is to present this electron microscopic observation, believed to be
Databáze: OpenAIRE