Abstract
Effect of salt on phages and host bacteria has not been investigated in relation to control of phages in industrial process.
We therefore investigated the effect of salt on phages and its host bacteria, using phages T1, T3, T4 and T5 and Escherichia coli B.
At 37°C, salt completely inhibited the growth of bacteria at 0.8 M. It did not affect the infectivity of phages. It considerably prevented the adsorption of phages onto bacteria. Salt completely inhibited the growth of phages at 0.6-0.9 M.
At 42°C, in the absence of salt, the growth of phage T1 was completely inhibited, whereas the growth of bacteria was the same as at 37°C. With phages T3, T4 and T5, this was not true.
At 42-43°C, with phages T3, T4 and T5, lower concentrations (0.2-0.3 M) of salt completely inhibited the phage growth.
The results suggest the possible use of salt for the control of phages in fermentation process.
