Occurrence of bacteriophage T4 receptor in Erwinia carotovora

Summary We have tested for the presence of the receptor for the Escherichia coli phage T4 in different isolates of the plant pathogenic enterobacteria Erwinia carotora subsp. carotovora and subsp. atroseptica. Several of the isolates appeared to contain a functional T4 receptor as shown by phage adsorption and phage-induced lysis of the bacteria. Two of the isolates could even sustain lytic growth of T4. In addition, we show that the transducing derivative of T4, T4GT7, can be employed to transfer plasmids from E. coli to E. carotovora thus opening up new possibilities for genetic analysis of Erwinia.