NEW THERMAL INDUCIBLE STREPTOMYCES PHAGES ISOLATED FROM TROPICAL SOILS

Two new Streptomyces phages, oBP1 and oBP2, were isolated from tropica l soil samples. These phages presented a large host range and develope d both lyric and lysogenic responses in different Streptomyces species tested. Variations in the incubation temperature showed to be importa nt in the development of the replication cycle. Increasing incubation temperature from 30 degrees C to 42 degrees C induced the lytic respon se of oBP2 and lysogenic of oBP1 in the host strain Streptomyces sp. W L6. oBP1 and oBP2 have icosahedral heads with long tails and were char acterized in relation to morphology, G + C content, genome size and ad sorption curve.