Kinetic Studies on the Mechanical of Photoreactivation of Bacteriophage T2 Inactivated by Ultraviolet Light

Citation

Bowen, George Hamilton (1953) Kinetic Studies on the Mechanical of Photoreactivation of Bacteriophage T2 Inactivated by Ultraviolet Light. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/NCJW-ZP95. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-04212003-134051

Abstract

Bacteriophage particles are called active if they are capable of generating a plaque when plated on agar by a standard technique. Exposure of the particles to ultraviolet radiation of wave length 253.7 m[mu] inactivates them in this sense. Following adsorption of the inactive particles to sensitive host bacteria, exposure of the suspension to light of the violet and near ultraviolet region causes a fraction of the particles to regain their activity, a phenomenon called photoreactivation. The kinetics of photoreactivation of bacteriophage T2 have been investigated for the purpose of studying the mechanism by which photoreactivation takes place. The presence of a dark reaction in addition to the light reaction has been demonstrated. The dark reaction precedes the other and has the function of supplying the light-absorbing material which enters into the light reaction. Both the light and the dark reactions follow first-order kinetics. The amount of photoreactivation produced by a given light treatment is determined by the interaction of the light and dark reactions. This interaction can be described satisfactorily in terms of a simple model for the reaction mechanism.

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