Bacteriophage-host interactions leading to genome internalization
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Updated: May 30, 2026

T4 Bacteriophage and E. coli Interaction in the Murine Intestine: A Prototypical Model for Studying Host-Bacteriophage Dynamics In Vivo
Published on: January 26, 2024
Aurélie Bertin1, Marta de Frutos, Lucienne Letellier
1Institut de Biochimie Biophysique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Univ Paris-Sud 11, UMR CNRS 8619, F- 91405, Orsay, France.
Abstract:
Bacteriophage infection is initiated by binding of the virion to a specific receptor located on the host surface. The genome is then released from the capsid and delivered to the host cytoplasm. Our knowledge of these early steps of infection has recently improved. The three-dimensional structure of numerous receptor binding proteins of tailed phages has been solved. Cryo-electron tomography has allowed characterization of the phage-host interactions in a cellular context and at nanometric resolution. The localization and motions of fluorescently labelled phages, receptors and viral DNA were monitored on individual bacteria. Altogether these approaches have revealed the intricacy of these early events and emphasize the link between infection and microbial architecture.
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