Isolation of bacteriophage-like particles from uninduced Clostridium tetani cultures

The isolation of hexagonal-headed, tailless, bacteriophage-like particles from uninduced cultures of Clostridium tetani is described. Clear, round, 1--3 mm diameter plaques were noted on Clostrisel agar plates, which were overlaid with soft agar inoculated with 7--14 day broth cultures. Particles were detected by transmission electron microscopy from broth cultures seeded with scrapings from the plaques. Both electron dense and electron lucent heads were noted. An electron dense head was observed attached to the surface of a dividing bacterium.