Abstract
We investigated the effects of fat-soluble vitamins and related substances on phages in order to find their new biological activities, and found that 14 vitamins and substances have phage-inactivating effects. α-Tocopherol, phylloquinone and menaquinone inactivated all of the 9 phages examined. Vitamin A palmitate, coenzyme Q_6 and coenzyme Q_<10> inactivated 7 phages. Vitamin A acetate, retinol, retinal, ergocalciferol, ergosterol and cholecalciferol inactivated 5 phages. β-Carotene and linoleic acid inactivated 2 phages. α-Tocopherol, phylloquinone and menaquinone had great inactivating effects. While, retinoic acid, 7-dehydro-cholesterol, menadione and menadiol exerted no inactivating effect on any of the phages examined. The mechanism of the phage-inactivating effect of α-tocopherol was investigated. Bubbling oxygen enhanced the effect, while bubbling nitrogen diminished it. Oxidizing agents enhanced the effect, while reducing agents and radical scavengers diminished it. The findings suggest that free radical mechanism is partly involved in the effect. CsCl density gradient centrifugation analysis and electron microscopic observation of phage inactivated by α-tocopherol revealed the release of DNA from its head covering.
