T 2 Bacteriophage Clearance in the Lemon Shark ∗

Abstract

Summary

Bacteriophage T₂ passes into the shark blood stream very rapidly, so that within less than 15 min after intramuscular injection the level of circulating phage is nearly identical to that found after intravenous injection. The circulating phage is cleared rapidly so that by 4 or 5 days no detectable bacteriophage is present in the sera of sharks not previously immunized and possessing no neutralizing antibodies. When injected into previously immunized sharks whose sera contained neutralizing antibodies, virtually no infectious phage could be found at any interval. The single injections of bacteriophage caused only a slight immunologic response. A higher response was obtained after multiple injections, but the response was slow, reminiscent of results obtained with other antigens (1,3).