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Paris I 1988
Paris I 1988
Paris I 1988
1988;11:121-123
BACTERIOLOGY
A rapid method for the isolation of bacteriophages from lysogens is described. Phages are
induced in broth medium containing mitomycin C, which is then replicated onto agar medium.
Molten medium containing indicator strains is then poured in these plates. Bacterial lysis is
subsequently detected with tetrazolium-containing broth.
FIGURE 1. Phage activity in positions 6, 9, 15, 20, 25, 29, 30, and 31 (beginning at the top,
counting left to right).
inoculating rods deliver from 0.003-0.005 ml, depending upon their size, and the
reservoirs may contain 0.5-1.0-ml volumes of medium. The replicated plates are then
incubated at 37°C for 6-8 hr so that the transferred inocula will adhere more firmly
to the YETS agar plates. Since the titer of phages produced in YETS-MC broth is
very high, these replicated plates can be incubated at room temperature overnight
or longer so as to minimize the spreading of phages in the next step. Then, 7 ml of
molten YETS broth containing 0.8 ml agar are inoculated with 0.1 ml from each of
the 32 potential indicator strains and poured over the surface of the replicated (in-
dicator) plates. After incubation overnight at 37°C, indicator plates are flooded with
10 ml of YETS broth containing 0.1% TTC. After incubation for 1 hr at 37°C, the
broth is poured off and the plates are observed for bacterial lysis. Application of the
phages with the inoculating rods results in a more discrete area of lysis than with
velveteen (Fig. 1). Lyric areas can be picked with a needle to serve as a source of
phage for that indicator strain that will, subsequently, be its propagating strain, or
phages can be obtained from the appropriate reservoir in the 32-holed steel plate.
However, this method of induction of prophages is so efficient that sometimes it is
difficult to tell precisely from which well the phages came (see position 25, Fig. 1).
Although we used a Steers inoculum replicating device in this phage isolation
method, one could also use a microtiter plate for the induction of phages in YETS-
MC broth and an 8-12 multichannel pipette for the transfer of induced phages to
indicator plates. One could also use a handheld inoculator similar to the one we
described recently (Parisi and Hamory, 1986) to transfer the induced phages. This
method of isolation of phages from lysogens is rapid (2 days), efficient, sensitive,
and could be used for the isolation of phages from lysogens of other bacterial species.
REFERENCES
Parisi JT, Hamory BH (1986) Simplified method for the isolation, identification, and charac-
terization of Staphylococcus epidermidis in epidemiologic studies. Diag Microbiol Infect
Dis 4:29.
Parisi JT, Talbot Jr HW (1974) Improved rapid plate method for the isolation of bacteriophages
from lysogenic bacteria. Appl Microbiol 28:503.
Pattee PA (1966) Use of tetrazolium for improved resolution of bacteriophage plaques. J Bacteriol
92:787.
Siddiqui A, Hart E, Mandagere U, Goldberg ID (1974) Rapid plate method for the isolation of
lysogenic bacteriophages. Appl Microbiol 27:278.
Steers E, Foltz EL, Graves BS (1959) An inocula replicating apparatus for routine testing of
bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics. Antibiot Chemother 9:307