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Published on: December 22, 2010
A visualization method of filamentous phage infection and phage-derived proteins in Escherichia coli using
M Nakamura1, K Tsumoto, K Ishimura
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Tokushima University, 3-18-15 Kuramoto, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
Abstract:
Direct visualization of filamentous phage infection in Escherichia coli (E. coli) was attempted using biotinylated phages (BIO-phages). The biotinylation of the phages did not influence their infectivity into E. coli. E. coli infected with BIO-phages could be detected by using fluorescein-conjugated avidin with confocal laser scanning microscopy, and BIO-phages and BIO-phage-derived proteins in E. coli could be directly observed by using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method with electron microscopy. This is the first report of direct visualization of phage infection and phage-derived proteins in the host cell using a biotin-avidin interaction. This simple and powerful method is applicable to the study of infection by various viruses.
