Intracellular development of a large DNA bacteriophage lytic for Caulobacter crescentus

Summary The cytological alterations accompanying Cb 13 infection of Caulobacter crescentus CB13 cells were followed by electron microscopic examination of sections of cells fixed at various stages of the infection. During the first half of the latent period, the cells appear unaltered. In the second half, the nucleoplasm migrates to the cell periphery and becomes more discrete than the nucleoplasm of uninfected cells. Phage particles appear within the migrated nucleoplasm. The only further alteration apparent in the sections is the absence of the lysozyme-versenesoluble layer of the cell wall of phage-lysed cells.This work was supported by National Science Foundation grant GB-2872.Dedicated to Professor C. B. van Niel on the occasion of his 70th birthday.