Transduction of various R factors by Plkc phage

Transduction of R-factors with phage Rlkc was studied. Six of the R-factors controlled resistance to single antibacterial drugs, such as tetracycline, levomycetin, ampicillin, neomycin, streptomycin and nitrofurans. When the donor strains produced bacteriocins, treatment of the transducing lysates with trypsine increased the yield of the R+-transductants. Transduction of the resistance determinants was not in most cases accompanied with lysogenization of the recipient cells. It was confirmed that transduction with phage Rlkc provided division of the R-factors into 2 groups, i. e. those with the resistance determinants possessing transferability after transduction and those with the determinants possessing no such ability. It was supposed that one of the causes of the R+-transductant inability to transferance of the resistance determinants on conjugation was their intergration into the recipient chromosomes on transduction.