Transduction of antibiotic resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Relationship between lytic and transducing activity of phage isolate AP-423

Isolation and propagation of a wild type phage, isolate AP-423, from an app arently lysogenic strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, resistant to a series o f anti-pseudomonal antibiotics, and its use for transduction of resistance determinants is described. The phage isolate AP-423 showed a phenomenon of host restriction, i.e. it was lysogenic only for some of the recipient stra ins tested. Tts transduction capacity, both ill sets of genes transduced an d frequency of transduction, was different in two recipient strains of I! a eruginosa. This phage showed also some restriction in titers, to which it c ould be propagated, only in certain recipient strains.