A stargate mechanism of genome delivery unveiled by cryogenic electron tomography.

Single-stranded DNA bacteriophages of the family are major components of the global virosphere. Microviruses are highly abundant in aquatic ecosystems and are prominent members of the mammalian gut microbiome, where their diversity has been linked to various chronic health disorders. Despite the clear importance of microviruses, little is known about the molecular mechanism of host infection.

Extracellular Polysaccharide Receptor and Receptor-Binding Proteins of the Bacteriophage-like Gene Transfer Agent RcGTA.

A variety of prokaryotes produce a bacteriophage-like gene transfer agent (GTA), and the alphaproteobacterial RcGTA is a model GTA. Some environmental isolates of lack the ability to acquire genes transferred by the RcGTA (recipient capability). In this work, we investigated the reason why strain 37b4 lacks recipient capability.