Structure of the filamentous bacteriophage fl. Location of the A, C, and D minor coat proteins.
Year: 1981
Type: article
Abstract: The location within the virion of the A, C, and D minor coat proteins of the filamentous bacteriophage fl has been analyzed. The A protein is present in approximately 5 copies/particle and is located at the tip of normal length phage, miniphage, and fl/pBR322 chimeric phage, a longer than normal length phage. The mole ratios of the A, C, and D proteins are the same for each type of particle, consistent with a model of phage organization in which the minor coat proteins are clustered near or at the ends of the phage. Normal length phage were fragmented by passing them through a French press, and those fragments that contained the A protein were separated from those that did not by treating the mixture with anti-A protein antibody. Analysis of the protein compositions of the two populations of fragments showed that the A and D proteins were found together in one population of fragments and that most, it not all, of the C protein was found in the other. These results show that the D protein is located near or at the A protein end of the phage and that the C protein is located in a region near or at the opposite end. Treatment of the virion with proteases which lowered the infectivity of the phage resulted in particles in which only the A protein was cleaved to any detectable extent. These particles remained resistant to the action of micrococcal nuclease.
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Authors: R.A. Grant, T.C. Lin, W. Konigsberg, R.E. Webster
Institutions: Yale University, Duke Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Virology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,430
OpenAlex ID: W1580820940