title: Trivalent Cation Induced Bundle Formation of Filamentous fd Phages.
abstract: Bacteriophages are filamentous polyelectrolyte viral rods infecting only bacteria. In this study, we investigate the bundle formation of fd phages with trivalent cations having different ionic radii (Al(3+) , La(3+) and Y(3+) ) at various phage and counterion concentrations, and at varying bundling times. Aggregated phage bundles were detected at relatively low trivalent counterion concentrations (1 mM). Although 10 mM and 100 mM Y(3+) and La(3+) treatments formed larger and more intertwined phage bundles, Al(3+) and Fe(3+) treatments lead to the formation of networking filaments. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses confirmed the presence of C, N and O peaks on densely packed phage bundles. Immunofluorescence labelling and ELISA analyses with anti-p8 antibodies showed the presence of phage filaments after bundling.
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Europe Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Campus E 71, Saarbruecken D-66123, Germany. n.korkmaz@kist-europe.de.
authors.forename: Nuriye
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Korkmaz Zirpel
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Europe Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Campus E 71, Saarbruecken D-66123, Germany.
authors.forename: Eun Jin
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D017104:Bacteriophage M13 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002412:Cations / Q000737:chemistry*; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D014764:Viral Proteins
keywords: bacteriophage; bundle; counterion condensation; electron microscopy; self-assembly