Identification of proteins associated with two diverse Caulobacter phicbkvirus particles

Arch Virol. 2020 Sep;165(9):1995-2002. doi: 10.1007/s00705-020-04707-2. Epub 2020 Jun 25.

Abstract

Genomic evolution among bacteriophages infecting Caulobacter crescentus is inevitable. However, the conservation of the proteins associated with intact phage particles has not been investigated. In this study, we compared the structural proteins associated with two genomically diverse but morphologically similar C. crescentus-infecting bacteriophages, phiCbK and CcrSC. We were able to detect more than 20 proteins that are part of the bacteriophage particle in both phages, and we were able to identify a small number of proteins that were found in only one of the two phage particles. All but one of the genes coding for these structural proteins were located in a region of the genome that had been designated a structural region, confirming the idea that the genes in these phage genomes are clustered according to their function. During the purification process, we also discovered that phiCbk has a replication complex that can be recovered from the cell lysate, and this complex allowed us to identify many of the phage proteins involved in phage genome replication.

MeSH terms

  • Bacteriophages / classification
  • Bacteriophages / genetics
  • Bacteriophages / growth & development
  • Bacteriophages / isolation & purification*
  • Caulobacter crescentus / virology*
  • Genome, Viral
  • Genomics
  • Siphoviridae / classification
  • Siphoviridae / genetics
  • Siphoviridae / growth & development
  • Siphoviridae / isolation & purification*
  • Viral Proteins / genetics*

Substances

  • Viral Proteins