Formation of Complexes between Long Tail Fibres and Substructural Elements of Phage T4D

Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., 33 Leninski pr., Moscow 117071 and 1 Belozersky Laboratory, Moscow State University, Moscow 119899, U.S.S.R. Complexes of substructural elements of bacteriophage T4 (baseplates, baseplate-core complexes) with long tail fibres were obtained for the first time by complementation in vitro . A study of the organization of the complexes was carried out by PAGE, electron microscopy and sedimentation analysis. About 90% of baseplates and baseplate-core complexes were combined with fibres. However, the number of the attached fibres varied from one to six. On the basis of the data obtained, we proposed that the attachment of long tail fibres can occur before the assembly of the whole bacteriophage. Keywords: phage T4 tail fibres, baseplate-core complexes, phage assembly, in vitro Received 19 June 1987; accepted 11 January 1988.