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A vibriophage, KVP241, and six of its relatives were isolated independently from seawater using Vibrio parahaemolyticusas the host. All of the phages had the same morphology (a hexagonal head and a tail with a contractile sheath) and the same host range (specific for some V. parahaemolyticusstrains). DNA‐DNA hybridization experiments elucidated that their genomes are highly homologous to each other. Analyses of amino acid sequences of putative major capsid proteins indicated that KVP241 may be weakly related to T4‐type phages having a more elongated head.

The presence or absence of the phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) in obligately heterofermentative group III lactobacilli including Lactobacillus brevis(3 strains), L. buchneri(2 strains) and L. fermentum(3 strains) was surveyed systematically for a series of sugars utilizable by these organisms. Contrary to common expectation, PTSs were found in two strains of L. fermentum:sucrose‐PTS in one strain; sucrose‐ and mannose‐PTSs in the other. All these activities were found to be constitutive.

mpo‐1Mutation, which causes the overproduction of at least two membrane and one cytoplasmic proteins, induced high manganese concentration‐dependent sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.Sporulation of the mpo‐1mutant was blocked at stage 0‐I by a low concentration of manganese.