Analysis of the Collar-Whisker Structure of Temperate Lactococcal Bacteriophage TP901-1

摘要

Proteins homologous to the protein NPS (neck passage structure) are widespread among lactococcal phages. We investigated the hypothesis that NPS is involved in the infection of phage TP901-1 by analysis of an NPS− mutant. NPS was determined to form a collar-whisker complex but was shown to be nonessential for infection, phage assembly, and stability.