DEFECTIVE PHAGES OF BACILLI - CELL PARASI TES OR CHROMOSOMAL COMPONENTS

A review of data on defective phages of bacilli is presented. The gene tics and morphology of this group of phages, the peculiarities of thei r induction, and data of sequence analysis of the segment of the bacte rial chromosome in which the phage genome is localized are considered, It is concluded that the genome of defective phages should probably b e considered a part of the bacterial chromosome rather than the genome of a parasite virus of the bacteria.