Transfer of internal proteins from phage to host and their association with bacterial membranes

The fate of internal proteins of T2 phages, during infection, was studied. It was shown that all of the internal proteins were transferred from phage to host during infection. This was demonstrated by analysing the protein content of pure ghosts obtained after blending phage infected bacteria. Most of the transferred internal proteins remained attached to virus DNA, which, in turn, was bound to bacterial membranes. Bacterial membranes isolated from T2 infected Escherichia coli contained DNA and internal proteins, which were identified by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. It is speculated that internal proteins facilitate a better binding of the virus DNA to the bacterial membrane and that this is one of the biological functions of these basic proteins.