Bacteriophage T4 development in Escherichia coli is growth rate dependent.

Three independent parameters (eclipse and latent periods, and rate of ripening during the rise period) are essential and sufficient to describe bacteriophage development in its bacterial host. A general model to describe the classical “one-step growth” experiment [Rabinovitch et al. (1999a) J. Bacteriol.181, 1687–1683] allowed their calculations from experimental results obtained with T4 in Escherichia coli B/r under different growth conditions [Hadas et al. (1997) Microbiology143, 179–185]. It is found that all three parameters could be described by their dependence solely on the culture doubling time τ before infection. Their functional dependence on τ, derived by a best-fit analysis, was used to calculate burst size values. The latter agree well with the experimental results. The dependence of the derived parameters on growth conditions can be used to predict phage development under other experimental manipulations.