Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Structural basis of superinfection exclusion by bacteriophage T4 Spackle

Journal Article · · Communications Biology
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
  2. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
A bacterial cell infected with T4 phage rapidly establishes resistance against further infections by the same or closely related T-even-type bacteriophages – a phenomenon called superinfection exclusion. Here we show that one of the T4 early gene products and a periplasmic protein, Spackle, forms a stoichiometric complex with the lysozyme domain of T4 tail spike protein gp5 and potently inhibits its activity. Crystal structure of the Spackle-gp5 lysozyme complex shows that Spackle binds to a horseshoe-shaped basic patch surrounding the oligosaccharide-binding cleft and induces an allosteric conformational change of the active site. In contrast, Spackle does not appreciably inhibit the lysozyme activity of cytoplasmic T4 endolysin responsible for cell lysis to release progeny phage particles at the final step of the lytic cycle. Our work reveals a unique mode of inhibition for lysozymes, a widespread class of enzymes in biology, and provides a mechanistic understanding of the T4 bacteriophage superinfection exclusion.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities Division
Contributing Organization:
Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (US)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1729706
Journal Information:
Communications Biology, Journal Name: Communications Biology Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 3; ISSN 2399-3642
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH

References (35)

Characterization of the interactions between Escherichia coli receptors, LPS and OmpC, and bacteriophage T4 long tail fibers journal June 2016
Gene 61.3 of Bacteriophage T4 Is the spackle Gene journal August 1999
Structural basis of bacterial defense against g-type lysozyme-based innate immunity journal October 2012
Crystallographic determination of the mode of binding of oligosaccharides to T4 bacteriophage lysozyme: Implications for the mechanism of catalysis journal April 1981
The role of phage lysozyme in the life cycle of phage T4 journal November 1968
Lysis of T4-infected bacteria in the absence of lysozyme journal May 1968
Superinfection exclusion by T-even-type coliphages journal April 1994
Mapping of functional sites on the primary structure of the tail lysozyme of bacteriophage T4 by mutational analysis journal May 1998
Structural basis for the recognition of lysozyme by MliC, a periplasmic lysozyme inhibitor in Gram-negative bacteria journal January 2009
Control of Bacteriophage T4 Tail Lysozyme Activity During the Infection Process journal March 2005
Guards of the great wall: bacterial lysozyme inhibitors journal October 2012
The functions of the phage T4 immunity and spackle genes in genetic exclusion journal October 1988
Bacteriophage T4 resistance to lysis-inhibition collapse journal August 1999
Structural Basis for the Inhibition of Human Lysozyme by PliC from Brucella abortus journal November 2013
Structure of the cell-puncturing device of bacteriophage T4 journal January 2002
Structure of the T4 baseplate and its function in triggering sheath contraction journal May 2016
Bacteriophage resistance mechanisms journal March 2010
Targeting mechanisms of tailed bacteriophages journal August 2018
Structure and evolution of the Ivy protein family, unexpected lysozyme inhibitors in Gram-negative bacteria journal April 2007
Structural remodeling of bacteriophage T4 and host membranes during infection initiation journal August 2015
Translationsl regulation of expression of the bacteriophage T4 lysozyme gene journal January 1986
Deciphering key features in protein structures with the new ENDscript server journal April 2014
Phaser crystallographic software journal July 2007
XDS journal January 2010
Features and development of Coot journal March 2010
The structure of the proteinaceous inhibitor PliI from Aeromonas hydrophila in complex with its target lysozyme journal January 2015
Macromolecular structure determination using X-rays, neutrons and electrons: recent developments in Phenix journal October 2019
A covalent enzyme-substrate intermediate with saccharide distortion in a mutant T4 lysozyme journal December 1993
The C-Terminal Fragment of the Precursor Tail Lysozyme of Bacteriophage T4 Stays as a Structural Component of the Baseplate after Cleavage journal May 1999
Spackle and Immunity Functions of Bacteriophage T4 journal January 1974
Roles of bacteriophage T4 gene 5 and gene s products in cell lysis. journal January 1980
Baseplate protein of bacteriophage T4 with both structural and lytic functions. journal January 1980
Isolation and characterization of the bacteriophage T4 tail-associated lysozyme. journal January 1985
Morphogenesis of the T4 tail and tail fibers journal December 2010
Lysis from without journal January 2011

Similar Records

Control of Bacteriophage T4 Tail Lysozyme Activity During the Infection Process
Journal Article · Mon Jul 19 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · J. Mol. Biol. · OSTI ID:1008661
The Structural Basis of T4 Phage Lysis Control: DNA as the Signal for Lysis Inhibition
Journal Article · Tue Jun 16 20:00:00 EDT 2020 · Journal of Molecular Biology · OSTI ID:1671132
Recovery of the accumulation ability of thiomethyl-$beta$-galactoside in Escherichia coli after bacteriophage T4 infection
Journal Article · Sat Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1976 · J. Virol., v. 17, no. 2, pp. 299-306 · OSTI ID:4105975

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES