A transducing bacteriophage for Caulobacter crescentus uses the paracrystalline surface layer protein as a receptor.
The bacteriophage phi Cr30, a transducing phage for Caulobacter crescentus strains, required the paracrystalline surface (S) layer for infectivity. Wild-type strains were phage resistant when rsaA, the gene for the 130K S-layer protein, was interrupted with an antibiotic resistance cassette. Strains that had lost the S layer by mutation were phage resistant, as were mutants that produce an S layer but which do not attach the structure to the cell surface. Phage sensitivity was restored to 130K-protein-deficient strains by introducing rsaA on a plasmid. Spontaneous phage-resistant strains produced expected phenotypes as follows (in order of decreasing frequency): S-layer cell attachment defects, no S layer, or an S layer that was wild type in appearance.
Edwards
P
P
Department of Microbiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Smit
J
J
D001420:Bacteria, Aerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D005814:Genes, Viral; D010957:Plasmids; D011991:Receptors, Virus / Q000378:metabolism*; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011991:Receptors, Virus