Experiments on Purification of Bacteriophage, and a Respiratory Pigment in Escherichia Coli Communis

During a study of the bacteriolytic enzyme, lysozyme,1 we wished to compare its properties with those of bacteriophage. The method used for the purification of lysozyme was not applicable to bacteriophage because of the extreme sensitivity of phage to the common organic solvents.Previous efforts at purification of bacteriophage have usually employed physico-chemical methods: ultrafiltration through membranes of graded porosity,2 adsorption,3 and more lately centrifugation.4 In the present work the removal of undesired culture medium and bacterial components was attempted by chemical methods and the behavior of phage toward some chemical agents was observed.The phage and coli strains here used were obtained from Dr. M. Holden, of the Department of Bacteriology. The organism gives the sugar reactions of Escherichia coli Communis. The phage was isolated from a normal stool several years ago and has been propagated since on the coli strain.In obtaining phage for concentration an 18-hour culture was inoculated...