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Structure and host specificity of Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteriophage Andhra

N'Toia C Hawkins1, James L Kizziah1, Asma Hatoum-Aslan2

  • 1Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.

Science Advances
|November 30, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Researchers determined the structure of the Staphylococcus epidermidis-infecting phage Andhra using cryo-electron microscopy. This reveals key features of the bacteriophage

Area of Science:

  • Structural Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Virology

Background:

  • Staphylococcus epidermidis is a skin pathogen linked to medical device infections.
  • Staphylococcal picoviruses are lytic bacteriophages with therapeutic potential.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the complete virion structure of S. epidermidis-infecting phage Andhra.
  • To enable atomic modeling of capsid and tail proteins for understanding phage assembly and function.

Main Methods:

  • High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) for complete virion structure determination.
  • Atomic modeling of 11 capsid and tail proteins.
  • AlphaFold structure prediction for tail tip heterooctamer identification.

Main Results:

  • The capsid is a T=4 icosahedron with a unique stabilizing inner lining protein.
  • The tail comprises receptor binding proteins (RBPs), a lytic protein, and a DNA ejection gatekeeper tail knob.
  • The tail tip heterooctamer composition was identified using AlphaFold.

Conclusions:

  • The determined structure elucidates critical features for phage assembly.
  • Understanding these features is vital for host recognition and penetration mechanisms.
  • This research provides insights into bacteriophage structure for potential therapeutic applications.

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