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The phage tail tape measure protein, an inner membrane protein and a periplasmic chaperone play connected roles in the genome injection process of E . coli phage HK 97
Author(s) -
Cumby Nichole,
Reimer Kelly,
MenginLecreulx Dominique,
Davidson Alan R.,
Maxwell Karen L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/mmi.12918
Subject(s) - periplasmic space , biology , genome , chaperone (clinical) , virulence , bacterial outer membrane , cytoplasm , cell envelope , escherichia coli , biochemistry , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , pathology
Summary Phages play critical roles in the spread of virulence factors and control of bacterial populations through their predation of bacteria. An essential step in the phage lifecycle is genome entry, where the infecting phage must productively interact with the components of the bacterial cell envelope in order to transmit its genome out of the viral particle and into the host cell cytoplasm. In this study, we characterize this process for the E scherichia coli phage HK 97. We have discovered that HK 97 genome injection requires the activities of the inner membrane glucose transporter protein, P ts G , and the periplasmic chaperone, F kp A . The requirements for P ts G and F kpA are determined by the sequence of the phage tape measure protein ( TMP ). We also identify a region of the TMP that mediates inhibition of phage genome injection by the HK 97 superinfection exclusion protein, gp15. This region of the TMP also determines the P ts G requirement, and we show that gp15‐mediated inhibition requires P ts G . Based on these data, we present a model for the in vivo genome injection process of phage HK 97 and postulate a mechanism by which the inhibitory action of gp15 is reliant upon P ts G .