Phage liquid crystalline droplets form occlusive sheaths that encapsulate and protect infectious rod-shaped bacteria.

ABSTRACT: The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major cause of antibiotic-tolerant infections in humans. P. aeruginosa evades antibiotics in bacterial biofilms by up-regulating expression of a symbiotic filamentous inoviral prophage, Pf4. We investigated the mechanism of phage-mediated antibiotic tolerance using biochemical reconstitution combined with structural biology and high-resolution cellular imaging. We resolved electron cryomicroscopy atomic structures of Pf4 with and without its linear single-stranded DNA genome, and studied Pf4 assembly into liquid crystalline droplets using optical microscopy and electron cryotomography. By biochemically replicating conditions necessary for antibiotic protection, we found that phage liquid crystalline droplets form phase-se

SUBMITTER: Tarafder AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7060675 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature