PubMed HealthSearch

PubMed · 131865

Structural aberrations in group A Staphylococcus bacteriophages.

Abstract

Six related Staphylococcus phages spontaneously produced various abnormal head and tail structures: (i) giant capsids which were tailed and apparently contained nucleic acid; (ii) regular and irregular smooth polyheads; (iii) heads and polyheads with wavy outlines; (iv) mottled heads and polyheads; (v) abnormally long and short tails; and (vi) "double capsids" connected by a small bridge. Some of these structures are rare, or have not yet been reported. The frequency os specific aberrant particles varied from one phage to another. Length distribution of smooth irregular polyheads and of abnormal tails indicated that these structures assemble at random from protein synthesized in excess. These phages represent an interesting model for genetic and morphogentic studies.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

H W Ackermann, L Berthiaume, S Sonea, S S Kasatiya. 1976. Structural aberrations in group A Staphylococcus bacteriophages.. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.18.2.619-626.1976

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

A directed evolution approach to select for novel Adeno-associated virus capsids on an HIV-1 producer T cell line.

A directed evolution approach was used to select for Adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids that would exhibit more tropism toward an HIV-1 producer T cell line with the long-term goal of developing improved gene transfer vectors. A library of AAV variants was used to infect H9 T cells previously infected or uninfected by HIV-1 followed by AAV amplification with wild-type adenovirus. Six rounds of biological selection were performed, including negative selection and diversification after round three. The H9 T cells were successfully infected with all three wild-type viruses (AAV, adenovirus, and HIV-1). Four AAV cap mutants best representing the small number of variants emerging after six rounds of selection were chosen for further study. These mutant capsids were used to package an AAV vector and subsequently used to infect H9 cells that were previously infected or uninfected by HIV-1. A quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay was performed to measure cell-associated AAV genomes. Two of the four cap mutants showed a significant increase in the amount of cell-associated genomes as compared to wild-type AAV2. This study shows that directed evolution can be performed successfully to select for mutants with improved tropism for a T cell line in the presence of HIV-1.

Capsid

Engineering adeno-associated viruses for clinical gene therapy.

Clinical gene therapy has been increasingly successful owing both to an enhanced molecular understanding of human disease and to progressively improving gene delivery technologies. Among these technologies, delivery vectors based on adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have emerged as safe and effective and, in one recent case, have led to regulatory approval. Although shortcomings in viral vector properties will render extension of such successes to many other human diseases challenging, new approaches to engineer and improve AAV vectors and their genetic cargo are increasingly helping to overcome these barriers.

Capsid

Structure of the U2 strain of tobacco mosaic virus refined at 3.5 A resolution using X-ray fiber diffraction.

The structure of the U2 strain of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) has been determined by fiber diffraction methods at 3.5 A resolution, and refined by a combination of restrained least-squares and molecular dynamics methods to an R-factor of 0.096. The structure is extremely similar to that of the common strain of TMV, with the largest differences being in the protein loop that makes up the inner surface of the virus, and in the C-terminal region on the outer surface. Differences in the inner loop can be correlated with differences in the properties of the two viruses.

Capsid