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Ingestion without Inactivation of Bacteriophages by Tetrahymena

ABSTRACT. Tetrahymena has been shown to ingest and inactivate bacteriophages, such as T4, in co‐incubation experiments. In this study, Tetrahymena thermophila failed to inactivate phages ΦX174 and MS2 in co‐incubations, although ΦX174 were ingested by T. thermophila, as demonstrated by: (1) recovery at defecation in a pulse‐chase experiment, (2) recovery from Tetrahymena by detergent lysis, and (3) transmission electron microscopy. We conclude, therefore, that the phages must be digestion‐resistant. Internalized ΦX174 were further shown to be partially protected from lethal damage by ultraviolet (UV) C and UVB irradiation. Finally, ingested ΦX174 were shown to be rapidly transported through buffer in a horizontal swimming, race tube‐like assay. The transport and protection of phages may confer evolutionary advantages that explain the acquisition of digestion‐resistance by some phages.