Abstract
Summary
Citrus pectin was found to allow growth of E. coli in the presence of an excess of bacteriophage. The pectin was nontoxic to the bacteria, and was not virucidal. The action of the pectin was found not to be the prevention of attachment of the virus to the cell, and indeed, it did not inhibit the multiplication of the phage appreciably. It did, however, protect the cells from lysis, and hence in its presence a phenomenon similar to that seen with lysogenic strains was observed. Gum acacia and starch, representatives of other classes of polysaccharides, were ineffective. No substance could be demonstrated in the cells which was antagonistic to citrus pectin in the way that an influenza virus substrate in erythrocytes was antagonistic to apple pectin.
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