TY - JOUR
T1 - Bacteriophage infection is targeted to cellular poles
AU - Edgar, Rotem
AU - Rokney, Assaf
AU - Feeney, Morgan
AU - Semsey, Szabolcs
AU - Kessel, Martin
AU - Goldberg, Marcia B.
AU - Adhya, Sankar
AU - Oppenheim, Amos B.
PY - 2008/6
Y1 - 2008/6
N2 - The poles of bacteria exhibit several specialized functions related to the mobilization of DNA and certain proteins. To monitor the infection of Escherichia coli cells by light microscopy, we developed procedures for the tagging of mature bacteriophages with quantum dots. Surprisingly, most of the infecting phages were found attached to the bacterial poles. This was true for a number of temperate and virulent phages of E. coli that use widely different receptors and for phages infecting Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Vibrio cholerae. The infecting phages colocalized with the polar protein marker IcsA-GFP. ManY, an E. coli protein that is required for phage λ DNA injection, was found to localize to the bacterial poles as well. Furthermore, labelling of λ DNA during infection revealed that it is injected and replicated at the polar region of infection. The evolutionary benefits that lead to this remarkable preference for polar infections may be related to λ's developmental decision as well as to the function of poles in the ability of bacterial cells to communicate with their environment and in gene regulation.
AB - The poles of bacteria exhibit several specialized functions related to the mobilization of DNA and certain proteins. To monitor the infection of Escherichia coli cells by light microscopy, we developed procedures for the tagging of mature bacteriophages with quantum dots. Surprisingly, most of the infecting phages were found attached to the bacterial poles. This was true for a number of temperate and virulent phages of E. coli that use widely different receptors and for phages infecting Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Vibrio cholerae. The infecting phages colocalized with the polar protein marker IcsA-GFP. ManY, an E. coli protein that is required for phage λ DNA injection, was found to localize to the bacterial poles as well. Furthermore, labelling of λ DNA during infection revealed that it is injected and replicated at the polar region of infection. The evolutionary benefits that lead to this remarkable preference for polar infections may be related to λ's developmental decision as well as to the function of poles in the ability of bacterial cells to communicate with their environment and in gene regulation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=43449131823&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06205.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06205.x
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C2 - 18363799
AN - SCOPUS:43449131823
SN - 0950-382X
VL - 68
SP - 1107
EP - 1116
JO - Molecular Microbiology
JF - Molecular Microbiology
IS - 5
ER -