Tail‐fiber attachement in bacteriophage T4D studied by quasielastic light scattering–band electrophoresis

Abstract

SynopsisMixtures of bacteriophage T4D particles with up to six tail fibers attached were separated and analyzed in a quasielastic light scattering-band electrophoresis apparatus. The electrophoretic mobilities and diffusion coefficients of the separated bands were determined during the same experiment. Species differing in mobility by 0.05 X lov4 cm*/V sec were resolved. Henry's electrophoresis theory for spheres indicates that each tail fiber contributes about 240 effective positive charges to the phage structure. Estimate of the charge using the permanent dipole moment and the electrophoretic mobility (Bontje et al. (1977) Riopolyrners 16,551-572) gives an effective charge of +230 to +250 per tail fiber. The charge distribution on the fiberless particles was estimated to be -3380 on the head and -290 on the tail if the dipole moment was assumed positive and -1400 on the head and -1000 on the tail for a negative dipole. Tail-fiber attachment does not proceed to completion in our in uitro system, as substantial quantities of the intermediate species are always present. Analysis of the population distributions as a function of tail-fiber input indicates the reaction is a random, noncooperative process.

Hydrodynamic properties of complex, rigid, biological macromolecules: theory and applications

“…The addition of the first and second tailfibres causes a larger relative increase in rotational friction than in translational friction. Using the technique of quasielastic light-scattering-band electrophoresis developed by Lim et al (1977), Baran & Bloomfield (1978) have obtained results for the/ t 's that are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. No results are yet available for rotation.…”

“…al. 1977;Baran & Bloomfield, 1978;Welch & Bloomfield, 1978). The values of D t used to extract the R h 's are corrected for rotational effects (Wilson & Bloomfield, 19796;Hopman & Koopmans, 1979).…”

Strategies for Surface Immobilization of Whole Bacteriophages: A Review

“…The bacteriophage head presents a net negative charge, while the tail fibers present a net positive charge 77 . Thus, the dipole moment of a phage particle causes the head to be oriented towards a positively charged surface 78 .…”

Phage-based Electrochemical Sensors: A Review

“…It was reported that the net charge of most viruses is negative [67,68]. In the work of Baran, we know that the tail fibers of T4 bacteriophages are highly positively charged and the head structures are negatively charged, implying that the tail fibers can be electrostatically attracted to the negatively charged membrane surface of their targets for further proliferation inside the bacteria cells [69]. Anany et al had determined the overall charge of one mutant of T4 bacteriophage composed of head and tail fibers as −5.31 ± 0.67 mV, whereas the charge was detected as 1.80 ± 0.19 mV for another mutant with only tail and tail fibers [70].…”