ABSTRACT
The presence of a restriction-modification (R/M) system against two bacteriophages, 328-B1 and hv, was demonstrated in three Lactobacillus helveticus strains, CNRZ 1094, CNRZ 1095, and CNRZ 1096. In addition, the burst size of phage 328-B1 in the three restrictive strains CNRZ 1094, CNRZ 1095, and CNRZ 1096 was reduced with respect to the values obtained in its propagating strain, CNRZ 328. Heating at 60 degrees C did not inactivate the R/M system. Nonrestrictive variants from CNRZ 1094 were easily obtained under several culture conditions, but treatment with novobiocin at 42 degrees C followed by storage at -20 degrees C resulted in drastic elimination of the R/M phenotype from all clones tested. Electrophoretic analysis of CNRZ 1094 nonrestrictive variants revealed the concomitant loss of a 34-kb plasmid. Four EcoRI fragments from the 34-kb plasmid were cloned in the Escherichia coli vector pACYC184. The use of one or several of these fragments as probes confirmed the plasmidic location of the genes responsible for the R/M system. These probes also showed the presence of R/M plasmids in the two other restrictive strains, CNRZ 1095 and CNRZ 1096. Lactose-fermenting ability and/or proteolytic capacity was not linked to the 34-kb plasmid.
ABSTRACT
Lactobacillus bulgaricus strains LT1 and LT4 previously isolated from a yogurt factory were shown to be lysogenic and inducible by mitomycin C or u.v. irradiation, induction being optimal at the beginning of exponential growth. Five indicator strains (four of L. lactis, one of L. bulgaricus) were found in which the two phage lysates propagated well in a liquid medium, but formed plaques on bacterial lawns less readily. Ca2+ was required for the phage infection of the indicator strains to reach termination. Phage particles from each strain exhibited a comparable ultrastructural morphology under the electron microscope, having an isometric head, a triple collar and a noncontractile fibre-containing tail.