VIRION
Non-enveloped, head-tail structure. The icosahedral head is about 96 nm in diameter. Has a neck without a collar, and a small base plate. The tail of about 97 nm in length and 21 nm in width is contractile. There is a baseplate with a bundle of presumably six tail fibers about 38 nm in length.
GENOME
Circularly permuted dsDNA genome of about 132 kb, encoding for about 149 proteins.
GENE EXPRESSION
Genes are transcribed by operons.
REPLICATION
CYTOPLASMIC
- Adsorption: the phage attaches to the target cell through its tail fibers.
- Ejection of the viral DNA into host cell cytoplasm by contraction of the tail sheath.
- Transcription and translation of early genes.
- Replication of the viral genome. Transcription and translation of late genes.
- Assembly of an empty procapsid and packaging of the genome.
- Viral tail fibers assembly and viral tail assembly.
- Mature virions are released from the cell by lysis.