Is a T4 bacteriophage a virus?

Is a T4 bacteriophage a virus?

Bacteriophage T4 from family Myoviridae is one of the most complex tailed viruses that infects Escherichia coli (E. coli) by injecting its genome into the host cell using a highly efficient contractile injection machinery.

What kind of virus is bacteriophage?

A bacteriophage (/bækˈtɪərioʊfeɪdʒ/), also known informally as a phage (/ˈfeɪdʒ/), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea. The term was derived from “bacteria” and the Greek φαγεῖν (phagein), meaning “to devour”.

What is the genetic material in the T4 bacteriophage?

The T4 bacteriophage belongs to a family of viruses known as T-phages also referred to as lytic phages because they always lyse and kill the host bacterium cell. T-phages have a head known as a capsid that contains double stranded DNA as their genetic material.

What are the two unique features of T4 phage genome?

Among the interesting, additional characteristics of phage T4 biology are a highly structured self-assembly pathway for virion particles, multiple modes of DNA replication initiation that are utilized at defined times during the replication cycle, a gradual subversion of the host RNA polymerase complex by a combination …

What is the function of T4 bacteriophage?

Bacteriophage T4 consists of a head for protecting its genome and a sheathed tail for inserting its genome into a host. The tail terminates with a multiprotein baseplate that changes its conformation from a “high-energy” dome-shaped to a “low-energy” star-shaped structure during infection.

How big is the genome of a T4 bacteriophage?

T-4 bacteriophage is a bacteriophage that infects E. coli bacteria. Its double-stranded DNA genome is about 169 kbp long and is held in an icosahedral head, also known as a capsid. T4 is a relatively large phage, at approximately 90 nm wide and 200 nm long (most phages range from 25 to 200 nm in length).

What kind of bacteria is Escherichia virus T4?

Escherichia virus T4 is a species of bacteriophages that infect Escherichia coli bacteria.

How does morphogenesis take place in the phage T4 virion?

During assembly of the bacteriophage (phage) T4 virion, the morphogenetic proteins encoded by the phage genes interact with each other in a characteristic sequence. Maintaining an appropriate balance in the amounts of each of these proteins produced during viral infection appears to be critical for normal phage T4 morphogenesis.

What is the function of the tail of the T4 virus?

The T4’s tail is hollow so that it can pass its nucleic acid into the cell it is infecting after attachment. Myoviridae phages like T4 have complex contractile tail structures with a large number of proteins involved in the tail assembly and function.