Restriction-modification systems in Streptomyces antibioticus.

Several restriction systems were detected in different strains of Streptomyces antibioticus by using actinophages as biological indicators. Adsorption of phages to the bacteria, together with the study of the efficiency of plating gave an initial indication of restriction in three strains. The alternation of efficiency of plating values obtained from restricting and nonrestricting hosts, gave evidence for the presence of a restriction-modification system in another strain. No common modification systems were detected among the different strains tested. Two specific endonucleases with a possible role in restriction were detected in strains ATCC 11891 and ETH 7451, respectively.