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A novel high-speed tensile test instrument is described, capable of measuring the mechanical response of elastomers at strain rates ranging from 10 to 1600 s(-1) for strains through failure. The device employs a drop weight that engages levers to stretch a sample on a horizontal track. To improve dynamic equilibrium, a common problem in high speed testing, equal and opposite loading was applied to each end of the sample. Demonstrative results are reported for two elastomers at strain rates to 588 s(-1) with maximum strains of 4.3. At the higher strain rates, there is a substantial inertial contribution to the measured force, an effect unaccounted for in prior works using the drop weight technique. The strain rates were essentially constant over most of the strain range and fill a three-decade gap in the data from existing methods.

Two bacteriophage collections were examined with regard to their ability to form plaques on multiple bacterial host species. Nine of 10 phages studied were found to be broad-host-range bacteriophages. These phages fell into two groups. Group 1, the SN series, was isolated from sewage treatment plant samples with Sphaerotilus natans ATCC 13338 as a host. The DNAs of these bacteriophages contained modified bases and were insensitive to cleavage by type I and II restriction endonucleases. The efficiency of plating of these bacteriophages was changed only slightly on the alternate host. Group 2, the BHR series, was isolated by a two-host enrichment protocol. These bacteriophages were sensitive to restriction, and their efficiency of plating was dramatically reduced on the alternate host. Our results suggest that a multiple-host enrichment protocol may be more effective for the isolation of broad-host-range bacteriophages by avoiding the selection bias inherent in single-host methods. At least two of the broad-host-range bacteriophages mediated generalized transduction. We suggest that broad-host-range bacteriophages play a key role in phage ecology and gene transfer in nature.

Bacteriophages specific for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli were examined for their ability to multiply in stationary phase hosts. Four out of five bacteriophages tested, including E. coli bacteriophage T7M, were able to multiply in stationary phase hosts. The bacteriophage ACQ had a mean burst size of approximately 1000 in exponential phase P. aeruginosa hosts and 102 in starved hosts, with corresponding latent periods that increased from 65 to 210 min. The bacteriophage UT1 had a mean burst size of approximately 211 in exponential phase P. aeruginosa hosts and 11 in starved hosts, with latent periods that increased from a mean of 90 min in exponential phase hosts to 165 min in starved hosts. Bacteriophage multiplication occurred whether or not the hosts had entered stationary phase, either because the cultures had been incubated for 24 h or were starved. Significantly, bacteriophage multiplication occurred in P. aeruginosa, which had been starved for periods of 24 h, several weeks, or 5 years. Only one P. aeruginosa virus, BLB, was found to be incapable of multiplication in stationary phase hosts. These results reveal that starvation does not offer bacterial hosts refuge from bacteriophage infection and suggest that bacteriophages will be responsible for significant bacterial mortality in most natural ecosystems.

The bacteriophage T4 denV gene encodes a well-characterized DNA repair enzyme involved in pyrimidine photodimer excision. We have discovered the first homologs of the denV gene in chlorella viruses, which are common in fresh water. This gene functions in vivo and also when cloned in Escherichia coli. Photodamaged virus DNA can also be photoreactivated by the host chlorella. Since the chlorella viruses are continually exposed to solar radiation in their native environments, two separate DNA repair systems, one that functions in the dark and one that functions in the light, significantly enhance their survival.