DNA sequence of the tail fiber genes 37, encoding the receptor recognizing part of the fiber, of bacteriophages T2 and K3.

The DNA sequences of genes 37 of bacteriophages T2 and K3 are presented and compared with that of phage T4. The corresponding proteins constitute, as dimers, the part of the long tail fibers that recognizes the bacterial receptor. The CO2H termini of the polypeptides are located at the free ends of the fibers. Morphologically, the three phages are essentially identical, but they use different receptors. The genes from phages T4, T2 and K3 encode proteins consisting of 1026, 1341 and 1243 amino acid residues, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridizations had shown earlier that genes 37, in contrast to the gene for the major capsid protein, of a number of T-even type phages are highly polymorphic. The deduced amino acid sequences now show that this polymorphism extends to the protein primary structures. About 50 NH2-terminal residues are conserved and are probably required for binding to the adjacent protein 36. This area is followed by more or less irregularly spaced regions of non-homology, partial homology or complete homology. The heterogeneity is most prominent in a region encompassing about 600 CO2H-terminal residues of the T2 or K3 proteins. Nevertheless, the amino acid compositions of the three proteins are very similar and all are rich in glycine. It has been found that the receptor specificities of phages K3 and T2 are determined by protein 38, a polypeptide required for the efficient dimerization of protein 37 of phage T4. Proteins 38 of phages K3 and T2 are functionally interchangeable, those of T4 and T2 or K3 are not. Proteins 37 of phages K3 and T2 possess a conserved sequence of 160 CO2H-terminal residues. This area is missing in the T4 protein. This region may serve as a binding site for polypeptides 38 of phages K3 and T2. The overall picture of the protein primary structures of the three phages strongly suggests that the evolution of genes 37, which was most likely driven by selection for variations in receptor recognition specificities, has not been a steady process but has involved loss and gain of segments of DNA.