Studies on bacteriophage distribution: virulent and temperate bacteriophage content of mammalian feces

Freshly voided samples of the feces of cows, pigs, and humans were analyzed for the enumeration of cell-free plaque-forming units (PFU) of coliphages and Salmonella phages. Coliphage PFU counts per gram (wet weight) of feces were found to range from less than 10(1) to greater than 10(7). Salmonella phages were found in three out of five porcine samples, but none were found in the four bovine samples analyzed. Virulent coliphages related to the phiX174/S13 serological group showed some "habitat preference" in that the S13 type of phages was found only in pig feces, whereas the phiX174 type of phages was found only in cow dung. Temperate coliphages were detectable in a majority of samples of both human and porcine origin but were infrequently found in bovine samples. About 80% of the temperate coliphages of fecal origin have been found to be serologically related to phage HK022 (Dhillon and Dhillon, 1973), and all are efficiently inducible by ultraviolet light irradiation. However, considerable diversity with the group was found when the prophage immunity pattern of 10 randomly selected isolates was examined.