TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantized viral DNA packaging revealed by rotating gel electrophoresis
AU - Lane, Todd
AU - Serwer, Philip
AU - Hayes, Shirley J.
AU - Frederick, Eiserling
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank M. Glngery and Drs. D. Rees and D. Eisenberg for many helpful discussions. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (DMB-8705427 to F.E.) and the National Institutes of Health (GM24365 and All 6117 to P.S.).
PY - 1990/2
Y1 - 1990/2
N2 - Two classes of missense mutations in the bacteriophage T4 gene coding for the major head protein produce phage with different length heads. The pt (petite) mutations produce phage with normal, intermediate, and isometric heads, whereas ptg (petite and giant) mutations also produce greatly elongated (giant) heads. DNA from petite, normal, and giant particles was clearly resolved by discontinuous rotating gel electrophoresis, and several new species of headful length DNA were found. These results confirm the idea that the major stop points for head length regulation are at Q = 13, 17, and 21, and also show that minor stop points exist at Q = 16, 18 and 20. The existence of these well-defined classes of DNA that correlate with capsid structure suggest that a structural relationship between the scaffold protein and the capsid protein determines head length and thus DNA length.
AB - Two classes of missense mutations in the bacteriophage T4 gene coding for the major head protein produce phage with different length heads. The pt (petite) mutations produce phage with normal, intermediate, and isometric heads, whereas ptg (petite and giant) mutations also produce greatly elongated (giant) heads. DNA from petite, normal, and giant particles was clearly resolved by discontinuous rotating gel electrophoresis, and several new species of headful length DNA were found. These results confirm the idea that the major stop points for head length regulation are at Q = 13, 17, and 21, and also show that minor stop points exist at Q = 16, 18 and 20. The existence of these well-defined classes of DNA that correlate with capsid structure suggest that a structural relationship between the scaffold protein and the capsid protein determines head length and thus DNA length.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025101282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0025101282&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0042-6822(90)90101-V
DO - 10.1016/0042-6822(90)90101-V
M3 - Article
C2 - 2305552
AN - SCOPUS:0025101282
SN - 0042-6822
VL - 174
SP - 472
EP - 478
JO - Virology
JF - Virology
IS - 2
ER -