Elsevier

Virology

Volume 72, Issue 1, 1 July 1976, Pages 195-211
Virology

T4 DNA injection: I. Growth cycle of a gene 2 mutant

https://doi.org/10.1016/0042-6822(76)90323-8Get rights and content

Abstract

When gene 2 amber mutants of T4 infect su cells, whole particles are produced (2.Su) which appear normal in electron micrographs. 2.Su particles plate less than 0.5% as efficiently as wild type phage on su+ hosts. These particles adsorb, contract, and kill their host normally. Up to 40% of 2.Su DNA is rapidly degraded to acid-soluble fragments after infection of Escherichia coli B, E. coli CR63 rgl and E. coli B40SuI. 2.Su particles provide gene products for in vivo complementation only 10–20% as efficiently as 2.Su+ phage. 2.Su DNA is glucosylated and unnicked inside the phage head. Morphogenesis of 2.Su progeny is delayed and the burst of 2.Su phage is decreased compared to wild-type infections. Thus, the absence of gene 2 product during phage synthesis affects both morphogenesis and particle infectivity. 2.Su particles are defective at an early stage of infection, probably after DNA ejection and before gene expression.

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