Bacteriophage particle

Figure 5.11 Attachment of T4 bacteriophage particle to the cell wall of G. coli and injection of DNA (a) Unattached particle, (b) Attachment to the wall by the long tail fibers, (c) Contact of cell wall by the tail pin. (d) Contraction of the tail sheath and injection of the DNA.

Figure 5.22 Electron micrograph by negative staining of a lambda bacteriophage particle.

Ophel, K.M., Bird, A.F. and Kerr, A. (1993) Association of bacteriophage particles with toxin production by Clavibacter toxicus, the causal agent of annual ryegrass toxicity. Phytopathology 83, 676-681. 

While it is easy to visualize the assembly of oligomeric proteins, it is not as easy to imagine how complex objects such as eukaryotic cilia (Fig. 1-8) or the sarcomeres of muscle (Fig. 19-6) are formed. However, study of the assembly of bacteriophage particles and other small biological objects has led to the concepts of self-assembly and assembly pathways, concepts that are now applied to every aspect of the architecture of cells. 

Figure 26-1 Plaques formed by bacteriophage c )ll growing on Staphylococcus aureus. Each transparent (dark) plaque is the result of lysis of bacteria by the progeny of a single bacteriophage particle. Courtesy of Peter Pattee.

Figure 27-1 Possible ways of packing DNA into the heads of bacteriophage particles. (A) Spiral-fold. (B) Concentric shell model From Black et al,4...

Infection of E coli with filamentous phage is a chronic one in that the phage does not lyse the E. coli. It is therefore possible to maintain filamentous phage either as a phage-secreting E coli strain or as a suspension of bacteriophage particles... 

Bacteriophage. A small particle, composed of protein and RNA or DNA, that can infect, replicate in, and release from bacterial cells. Bacteriophage particles can be used to package DNA molecules into single-stranded forms for further manipulation and modification. 

A. C. Zeri, M. F. Mesleh, A. A. Nevzorov and S. J. Opella, Structure of the coat protein in fd filamentous bacteriophage particles determined by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2003, 100, 6458-6463. 

Transduction is the term for the transfer of genes from one bacterium to another by bacteriophage particles. The amount of DNA that can be transferred is limited by the size of the DNA that can be carried within the phage head. The specificity of the bacteriophage for receptors on the host bacterium limits any role of transduction in the transfer of DNA between species of bacteria. However, the protection of the labile DNA molecule by the phage coat... 

Plaque a transparent area in a lawn of bacteria on the surface of a solidified growth medium. P. is caused by lysis of bacteria in that area by bacteriophage. Under controlled conditions, each P. represents a center of infection initated by one infective bacteriophage particle. The number of P. produced after evenly spreading a known volume of phage suspension over the surface of the bacterial culture is used as a simple assay of the number of infective phage particles ... 

The atomic resolution structure of Pfl coat protein determined by solid-state NMR spectroscopy of magnetically aligned filamentous bacteriophage particles in solution has been compared to the structures previously determined by X-ray fiber and neutron diffraction. ... 

Kwiatkowski B, Boschek B, Thiele H, Stirm S (1982) Endo-N-acetylneuraminidase associated with bacteriophage particles. J Virol 43 697-704... 

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