Wenzel, S.; Hess, R.; Kiefer, D.; Kuhn, A. Involvement of the Cell Division Protein DamX in the Infection Process of Bacteriophage T4. Viruses2024, 16, 487.
Wenzel, S.; Hess, R.; Kiefer, D.; Kuhn, A. Involvement of the Cell Division Protein DamX in the Infection Process of Bacteriophage T4. Viruses 2024, 16, 487.
Wenzel, S.; Hess, R.; Kiefer, D.; Kuhn, A. Involvement of the Cell Division Protein DamX in the Infection Process of Bacteriophage T4. Viruses2024, 16, 487.
Wenzel, S.; Hess, R.; Kiefer, D.; Kuhn, A. Involvement of the Cell Division Protein DamX in the Infection Process of Bacteriophage T4. Viruses 2024, 16, 487.
Abstract
The molecular mechanism how the infecting DNA of bacteriophage T4 is passing from the capsid through the bacterial cell wall and entering the cytoplasm is essentially unknown. After adsorption, the short tail fibers of the infecting phage extend from the baseplate and trigger the contraction of the tail sheath, leading to a puncturing of the outer membrane by the tail tip needle composed of the proteins gp5.4, gp5 and gp27. To explore the events that occur in the periplasm and at the inner membrane, we have constructed T4 phage that have a modified gp27 in their tail tip with a His-tag. Shortly after infection with these phages, the cells were chemically cross-linked, solubilised, and the cross-linked products were affinity purified on a nickel column. The co-purified proteins were identified by mass spectrometry, and we found that predominantly the inner membrane proteins DamX, SdhA and PpiD were cross-linked. The same partner proteins were identified when purified gp27 was added to Escherichia coli spheroplasts suggesting a direct protein-protein interaction.
Keywords
bacteriophage T4; DNA translocation; baseplate; tail tip; inner membrane
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Copyright:
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