Bacteriophage-Like Entities Associated with a Leptospire

Abstract

We have fortuitously observed phage-like structures in cultures of an unclassified leptospire. This report presents their morphology and evidence that they probably originate within the leptospire. We are unaware of any previous report of leptospiral phages although Hoogenraad et al. (J. Gen. Virol. 1:575-576, 1967) have observed a small phage associated with an anaerobic spirochete in sheep rumen contents.