BACTERIOPHAGE RECEPTORS ON LISTERIA-MONOCYTOGENES CELLS ARE THE N-ACETYLGLUCOSAMINE AND RHAMNOSE SUBSTITUENTS OF TEICHOIC-ACIDS OR THE PEPTIDOGLYCAN ITSELF

Different approaches were used to examine the function of teichoic aci ds (TA) as phage receptors among selected Listeria strains, and to ide ntify and characterize specific receptor structures of host cells belo nging to different serovars. This included successive removal of cell wall constituents, preparation and purification of TA, and CLC analysi s of TA components. Adsorption of Listeria monocytogenes bacteriophage s could be inhibited by polyvalent antisera, specific lectins and addi tion of purified TA. The results confirmed the necessity of TA in gene ral and of rhamnose and glucosamine in particular for adsorption of Li steria phage Ails, which is a temperate Siphovirus (morphotype B1), at tacking predominantly serovars 1/2, Host binding of siphoviral phage A 500 (predominantly lysing serovars 4b), was also dependent on cell wal l TA. A phage-resistant L. monocytogenes strain was shown to lack gluc osamine in its TA. These results support the view that TA substituents may play an important role not only in antigenicity of Listeria cells , but also in specificity of host recognition by two temperate Listeri a phages. In contrast, the broad-host-range virulent phage A511 (Myovi rus, morphotype Al) uses the listerial peptidoglycan as primary recept or. This corresponds well with the observation that A511 is capable of lysing the majority of L. monocytogenes strains.