Studies on the Morphopoiesis of the Head of Phage T‐Even

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Abstract
Assembly of T4 polyheads and T4 phage has been investigated under special metabolic conditions of the host cell. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether the assembly of polyheads or capsids depends on protein and DNA synthesis and whether it is energy requiring. The influences of chloramphenicol, 5‐fluoro‐2′‐deoxyuridine and potassium cyanide on the maturation process were studied. The main results of experiments performed with T4D.20 (amN50) and T4D.20(amN50)‐e are as follows: The maturation of polyheads and capsids is independent of concurrent protein synthesis; if the protein synthesis is arrested 10 min after infection or later, the existing protein precursor pools can be depleted by 90%. With phage DNA synthesis reduced to about 10%, the capsid assembly is diminished, but not that of polyheads. Capsids may, polyheads may not need DNA as a morphopoietic factor. The assembly of polyheads, but not that of capsids is partially inhibited by cyanide which lowers the intracellular ATP level to 10–20%.

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