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Big hi to all of you! I'm an undergraduate following a Bsc in bioscience. Trust me I know the feeling of surfing around the net for ages and getting nothing in return! Or getting something worthless for the time we spent surfing. So I started this blog adding the science stuff I have noted which I think might help someone in their home work. Ok then enjoy!

23 June 2012

Different kinds of bacteriophages (phages)


M13
Filamentous.
About 870nm in length and 6nm in width.
Consists of single stranded DND (ssDNA).
Three kinds of capsomeres build the capside.
Infects E. coli by adsorbing to the cell and entering through F pilli. Therefore only infect F+ and HFr cells. Also male specific.
Does not kill the host. Particles are released by budding, therefore when the particles are released, the host cell is alive.
An efficient vector in gene cloning as it can hold longer pieces of foreign DNA.

T phage
Structure is composed of icosahedral head, double stranded DNA and a tail.
Infects E.coli
 Main types of T phages are T2, T4 and T12.
In the infection linear DNA of the phage is released to the host cell and becomes circular by replicating that later produces a long DNA chain known as ‘Concatamen’. This coils into the phage’s head by headfull mechanism while packaging.
Infection kills the host cell as the new particles are released outside by bursting the host cell.

Lambda (λ)
Composed of head and tail.
Head is consisting of double stranded linear DNA.
At both 5’ ends of the DNA strand, 12 complementary base pair, single stranded segments are present. These two ends are known as “cos ends”.
Because of the cos ends, phage chromosome circularizes before replication. Concatamen is produced during the replication and during the packaging, Terminase enzyme cuts off the cos ends.
Host cell is E.coli.

MS2
Contains the smallest known genome.
Super coiled single stranded DNA.
Infect only through sex pilli. Therefore male specific.
Infect E.coli.

Phi×174(ΦX174)
Contains a single stranded circular DNA.
After adsorption, synthesizes the complementary strand and becomes double stranded.
Use as a positive control in DNA sequencing.

G4
Structurally similar to ΦX174 phage.
Can infect susceptible E.coli cells. 



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