Bacteriophage phiYeO3-12, specific for Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3, is related to coliphages T3 and T7.
Bacteriophage phiYeO3-12 is a lytic phage of Yersinia enterocolitica serotype O:3. The phage receptor is the lipopolysaccharide O chain of this serotype that consists of the rare sugar 6-deoxy-L-altropyranose. A one-step growth curve of phiYeO3-12 revealed eclipse and latent periods of 15 and 25 min, respectively, with a burst size of about 120 PFU per infected cell. In electron microscopy phiYeO3-12 virions showed pentagonal outlines, indicating their icosahedral nature. The phage capsid was shown to be composed of at least 10 structural proteins, of which a protein of 43 kDa was predominant. N-terminal sequences of three structural proteins were determined, two of them showing strong homology to structural proteins of coliphages T3 and T7. The phage genome was found to consist of a double-stranded DNA molecule of 40 kb without cohesive ends. A physical map of the phage DNA was constructed using five restriction enzymes. The phage infection could be effectively neutralized using serum from a rabbit immunized with whole phiYeO3-12 particles. The antiserum also neutralized T3 infection, although not as efficiently as that of phiYeO3-12. phiYeO3-12 was found to share, in addition to the N-terminal sequence homology, several common features with T3, including morphology and nonsubjectibility to F exclusion. The evidence conclusively indicated that phiYeO3-12 is the first close relative of phage T3 to be described.
Pajunen
M
M
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Finland. maria.pajunen@utu.fi
Kiljunen
S
S
Skurnik
M
M
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies; D017903:Bacteriophage T3 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017123:Bacteriophage T7 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019081:O Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D014771:Virion / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology*
D000906:Antibodies; D004279:DNA, Viral; D019081:O Antigens; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins