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Structural model at atomic resolution of bacteriophage T4 [1] The structure of a typical myovirus bacteriophage Anatomy and infection cycle of bacteriophage T4.. A bacteriophage (/ b æ k ˈ t ɪər i oʊ f eɪ dʒ /), also known informally as a phage (/ ˈ f eɪ dʒ /), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea.
Filamentous bacteriophages are a family of viruses (Inoviridae) that infect bacteria, or bacteriophages.They are named for their filamentous shape, a worm-like chain (long, thin, and flexible, reminiscent of a length of cooked spaghetti), about 6 nm in diameter and about 1000-2000 nm long.
Escherichia virus T4 is a species of bacteriophages that infect Escherichia coli bacteria. It is a double-stranded DNA virus in the subfamily Tevenvirinae of the family Straboviridae . T4 is capable of undergoing only a lytic life cycle and not the lysogenic life cycle .
Lambda phage is a non-contractile tailed phage, meaning during an infection event it cannot 'force' its DNA through a bacterial cell membrane. It must instead use an existing pathway to invade the host cell, having evolved the tip of its tail to interact with a specific pore to allow entry of its DNA to the hosts.
[13]: 631 The viruses that infect plants are harmless to animals, and most viruses that infect other animals are harmless to humans. [6]: 272 The host range of some bacteriophages is limited to a single strain of bacteria and they can be used to trace the source of outbreaks of infections by a method called phage typing. [90]
Protein E is a 91-amino acid membrane protein that causes host cell lysis by inhibiting the host translocase MraY. [17] This inhibitory activity is located within the N terminal 29 amino acids. [18] Protein A is a single strand endonuclease [19] and is responsible for the initiation of viral DNA replication. [20]
The virus then releases its genetic material (either single- or double-stranded RNA or DNA) into the cell. In some viruses this genetic material is circular and mimics a bacterial plasmid. At this stage the cell becomes infected and can also be targeted by the immune system. It is mostly aided by receptors on the surface of the cell.
The virus particles have a distinct shape; each virion has an icosahedral head that contains the viral genome, and is attached to a flexible tail by a connector protein. [2] The order encompasses a wide range of viruses, many containing genes of similar nucleotide sequence and function.