Abstract:A virulent bacteriophage of Bacillus licheniformis was isolated from the nearby drainage and air environment of alkali protease producing factory. Electronic microscopy showed that the phage had an isometric head (59 nm in diameter) and a long non-contractile tail (132 nm in length), which indicated the characters of Siphoviridae family. Bacillus licheniformis was the host cell for the phage in the test. The study revealed that the phage had good stability at pH 5~0 and certain stability under high temperature. The invasion to the host cell could be accelerated by metal ion. One-step growth kinetics showed that the latent period of the invasion was about 40 min, and the rise period was about 110 min. Double-stranded linear DNA was the genetic material of the phage, with a molecular weight of about 36 kb.
