9L9P

Cryo-EM structure of bacteriophage T1 tail tip complex

Summary for 9L9P

• Entry DOI: 10.2210/pdb9l9p/pdb
• EMDB information: 62912
• Descriptor: Putative tail fiber protein, Putative tail assembly protein, Putative minor tail protein, ... (6 entities in total)
• Functional Keywords: tail tip complex, viral protein
• Biological source: Escherichia phage T1; More
• Total number of polymer chains: 5
• Total formula weight: 297369.21

Authors

Chen, Y.,Liu, H.R. (deposition date: 2024-12-30, release date: 2025-03-12, Last modification date: 2025-09-24)

Primary citation

Chen, Y.,Xiao, H.,Zhou, J.,Peng, Z.,Peng, Y.,Song, J.,Zheng, J.,Liu, H.
The In Situ Structure of T-Series T1 Reveals a Conserved Lambda-Like Tail Tip.
Viruses, 17:-, 2025

PubMed Abstract: It is estimated that over 60% of known tailed phages are siphophages, which are characterized by a long, flexible, and non-contractile tail. Nevertheless, entire high-resolution structures of siphophages remain scarce. Using cryo-EM, we resolved the structures of T-series siphophage T1, encompassing its head, connector complex, tail tube, and tail tip, at near-atomic resolution. The density maps enabled us to build the atomic models for the majority of T1 proteins. The T1 head comprises 415 copies of the major capsid protein gp47, arranged into an icosahedron with a triangulation number of seven, decorated with 80 homologous trimers and 60 heterotrimers along the threefold and quasi-threefold axes of the icosahedron. The T1 connector complex is composed of two dodecamers (a portal and an adaptor) and two hexamers (a stopper and a tail terminator). The flexible tail tube comprises approximately 34 hexameric rings of tail tube. The extensive disulfide bond network along the successive tail rings may mediate the flexible bending. The distal tip of T1, which is cone-shaped and assembled by proteins gp33, gp34, gp36, gp37, and gp38, displays structural similarity to that of phage lambda. In conjunction with previous studies of lambda-like siphophages, our structure will facilitate further exploration of the structural and mechanistic aspects of lambda-like siphophages.

PubMed: 40143278
DOI: 10.3390/v17030351

Experimental method

ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (4.3 Å)