Actinophage

(microbiology) A bacteriophage that infects and lyses members of the order Actinomycetales.

Any of a number of bacteriophages that infect and lyse bacteria of the order Actinomycetales. Actinophages of particular interest are those that include in their host range any organisms of the genus Streptomyces, the source of most of the therapeutically useful antibiotics. Contamination of a culture with a specific actinophage may result in lysis and destruction of the bacteria, which obviously halts antibiotic production. The problem of phage contamination is often solved by the isolation and use of a phage-resistant mutant of the antibiotic-producing bacterium. See also Bacteriophage.