Adsorption of a ribonucleic acid bacteriophage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Summary The adsorption of a ribonucleic acid bacteriophage, PP7, of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was investigated using the following approaches: electron microscopic observation of the ultrastructure of phage-pili complexes, an adsorption technique employing chloroform and rapid dilution treatment which assays the number of phages remaining unadsorbed, the effect of shear treatment on the availability of the bacterial host's adsorption sites, and the effect of metabolic inhibition of the bacterial host on phage adsorption. The specific adsorption sites on the bacterial host were found to be the pili and only when attached to the bacterial cell. Adsorption is additionally dependent upon the metabolic integrity of the host cell. Variations in the morphology of P. aeruginosa pili were observed. The mechanism of adsorption of bacteriophage PP7 appears to be similar to that of the RNA phages of two other bacterial genera, Escherichia and Caulobacter.