[Lysogeny and conversion characteristics of microbes in the genus Bordetella]

The genomes of B. pertussis bacteriophages 134 and 41405 and B. bronchiseptica bacteriophage 214 have been studied. As revealed by the methods of heteroduplex and restriction analyses, the populations of these bacteriophages are heterogeneous and their DNAs differ in size and location of inserts. The study carried out with the use of blot hybridization techniques has shown that in lysogenic cells the genome is not integrated into the chromosome, but exists as an autonomous plasmid replicon. Only partial incorporation of the phage genome into the recipient chromosome takes place in the process of conversion, the phage genome continuing its existence as an autonomous replicon.