BOUND WATER, INOSITOL, AND THE BIOSYNTHESIS OF TEMPERATE AND VIRULENT BACTERIOPHAGES BY AIR-DRIED ESCHERICHIA COLI

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Abstract
The effect of relative humidity (R.H.) and inositol on the capacity of semidried cells of E. coli B to manufacture five bacteriophages, together with the effect of drying on the vegetative phages of infected cells, has been studied. Also, the action of drying and inositol on the induction of lysis and production of lambda phage by E. coli K12 has been examined. It was found that the bound-water content of a cell determined the response of all phenomena to drying. As the R.H. was lowered from 70%, where the bound-water content is approximately 25 g/100 g cell solids, to 40% (10 g/100 g cell solids) a rapid decline in the resistance of both the capacity and vegetative phage occurred. In addition, the extent of vegetative phage inactivation was found to depend on the time after infection and prior to drying. All vegetative phages showed their maximum sensitivity immediately and up to 7 minutes after infection, then their sensitivity decreased and maximal stability occurred 15 minutes after infection. Inositol completely prevented capacity or vegetative phage inactivation under the conditions described. Desiccation was found to induce the lysis of E. coli K12 and the production of lambda phage. In terms of the percentage of viable cells lysed a greater proportion of the cells surviving desiccation at 30% R.H. was found to undergo lysis than those desiccated at 70% R.H., or at all R.H. levels in the presence of inositol.