INACTIVATION OF BACTERIOPHAGE-T4 BY ORGANIC AND INORGANIC TIN-COMPOUNDS

Butyltins and inorganic tins inactivated bacteriophage T4. The effect was on the phage and not on its host, Escherichia coli. The order of effectiveness was SnCl4 greater-than-or-equal-to monobutyltin > dibutyltin > tributyltin greater-than-or-equal-to SnCl2. For the butyltins and SnCl4 this was the reverse of the order of effectiveness usually observed for plants, animals, and microorganisms. This pattern suggests that degradation of tributyltin does not always detoxify it. Monobutyltin (MBT), the most effective organotin, was more effective at pH 4 than at higher pH values and it was more effective at low ionic strength. Inactivation proceeded more rapidly at 37-degrees-C than at 18-degrees-C. The results of experiments in which the ratio of phage to MBT was varied suggests that tin compounds may act by flocculating phage particles. Zinc, which is bound by phage short tail fibers (P12), inhibited phage inactivation by MBT, suggesting that MBT may act upon these tail fibers.