Figure 23-1: Structure of bacteriophage SPP1. A, Visualization of a SPP1 virion by electron microscopy after negative staining with uranyl acetate. The bar represents 50 nm. B, a scheme of the mature phage that compiles our current knowledge of the particle structural organization. The icosahedral capsid is formed by the main capsid protein G13P and a decoration protein G12P (102). The connector between capsid and phage tail is composed of the portal protein G6P and the head completion proteins G15P and G16P (12, 76). The location of the minor capsid protein G7P in the mature phage head has not been identified but the protein is known to bind G6P at early stages of SPP1 morphogenesis (45). The two main structural proteins of the tail are G17.1P and G17.1*P that have an identical amino-terminus but G17.1*P has a higher molecular weight (43) The structure of the tail fiber is drawn based on visual inspection of electron micrographs. The individual protein components have not yet been defined. (for better image quality, click here for tif image, which may be quite large; may also require screen refreshing plus special software to view; or view larger tif in separate window)

Figure 23-1, Figure 23-2, Figure 23-3, Figure 23-4, Figure 23-5, Figure 23-6, Figure 23-7, Figure 23-8

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