Identification of bacteriophage T4D gene products 26 and 51 as baseplate hub structural components.

Products of two bacteriophage T4D genes, 26 and 51, both known to be essential for the formation of the central hub of the phage tail baseplate, have been partially characterized chemically, and their biological role has been examined. The gene 26 product was found to be a protein with a molecular size of 41,000 daltons and the gene 51 product a protein of 16,500 daltons. The earlier proposal (L. M. Kozloff and J. Zorzopulos, J. Virol. 40:635-644), from observations of a 40,000-dalton protein in labeled hubs, that the gene 26 product is a structural component of the baseplate, has been confirmed. The gene 51 product, not yet detected in phage particles, appears from indirect evidence also to be a structural component of the baseplate hub. These current conclusions about the gene 26 and 51 products are based on properties of T4 mutant particles containing altered gene 26 or 51 products and include (i) changes in heat lability, (ii) changes in adsorption rates, and (iii) changes in plating efficiencies on different hosts, and with the results of previous isotope incorporation experiments indicate that T4 particles contain three copies of the gene 26 product and possibly one or at most two copies of the gene 51 product. Properties of these mutant particles indicate that the gene 26 product, together with the other hub components such as the gene 28 product, plays a critical role in phage DNA injection into the host cell, whereas the 51 product seems essential in initiating baseplate hub assembly.