A new temperate phage of streptomyces venezuelae: morphology, DNA molecular weight and host range of SV2.

A new, narrow host range temperate phage, SV2, was isolated from soil. It lysogenized and lysed strains of Streptomyces venezuelae and seemed to be specific for this species. In general morphology, the virions were typically lambdoid, but had unusually ringed tails similar to those of some rare phages isolated from hosts belonging to different bacterial genera. The molecular weight of double-stranded linear SV2 DNA, estimated at about 24 X 10(6), was lower than the published values for other Streptomyces phages.