Structure of a Brochothrix thermosphacta bacteriophage reveals cell wall adsorption mechanism in Gram-positive infecting siphophages.

ABSTRACT: Siphophages possess a long, flexible, and non-contractile tail that is responsible for host recognition, cell wall perforation, and genome delivery. Although the majority of structurally characterized siphophages target Gram-negative bacteria, those infecting Gram-positive bacteria remain elusive. Moreover, structural information concerning phage infection and genome release events in Gram-positive infecting siphophages is sparse. Here, we present a near-atomic resolution structure of Brochothrix thermosphacta bacteriophage NF5 determined by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The structure comprises 11 proteins associated with the head, neck, tail tube, and baseplate, amounting to 643 polypeptides in total. Integration of cellular cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) showed the infection pr

SUBMITTER: Peng Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12917162 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature