Abstract
In the study of the initial stages of phage infection to its susceptible host cell, it is of interest to determine the character of the binding force which acts highly type specifically between host and virus, in other words, to decide whether it is merely ionic force or it contains some enzymatic processes.
From this point of view, the influence of temperature on adsorption rate of phage to host cell was investigated.
This report represents some adsorption experiments with two different host-virus-systems, one is temperature dependent and the other is unaffected by temperature in character with respect to attachment affinity between host and virus, and about the character of affinity force is discussed.
Experiments with P6r phage and its host cell E. coli E6 showed that adsorption velocity became smaller as the temperature lowered but it is chiefly due to increasing of the viscosity of the medium and adsorption efficiency was kept constantly in the neighborhood of 100 per cent, telling the binding force acted between these colloidal particles was unaffected by the temperature, in the range between 37°C and 0°C, and at the same time, it demonstrates that diffusion theory holds for this phénomenon with well agreement.
On the other hand, experiment with T4r phage and its host E. coli B revealed that there existed the distribution of attachment activity among phage particles related to temperature and, as the result of this, amount of adsorbed phage particles was markedly influenced by the temperature. (See page 16-23.)
