On the receptor for bacteriophage T4 inEscherichia coli K12

Purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from a mutant strain ofEscherichia coli K12 altered in its LPS has been shown to serve as a receptor for bacteriophage T4, which contrasts with LPS from a wild-type strain. Studies of extragenic suppression of a mutation in the gene specifying protein 1b revealed that the galactose residue in the LPS normally masks the LPS receptor and that in the absence of this residue protein 1b is not a necessary component of the T4 receptor.