An artist's rendering of an Enterobacteria phage T4.

A bacteriophage (from 'bacteria' and Greek phagein, 'to eat') is any one of a number of viruses that infect bacteria. The term is commonly used in its shortened form, phage. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 542 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (866 × 958 pixels, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 542 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (866 × 958 pixels, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Structural overview of the T4 phage Enterobacteria phage T4 is a phage that infects E. coli bacteria. ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Stop editing pages god ... An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. ...

Typically, bacteriophages consist of an outer protein hull enclosing genetic material. The genetic material can be dsRNA, ssDNA, or dsDNA between 5 and 500 kilo base pairs long with either circular or linear arrangement. Bacteriophages are much smaller than the bacteria they destroy - usually between 20 and 200 nm in size. A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Genetic material is used to store the genetic information of an organic life form. ... Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid consisting of a string of covalently-bound nucleotides. ... DNA replication Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid which carries genetic instructions for the biological development of all cellular forms of life and many viruses. ... The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. ... In genetics, two nucleotides on opposite complementary DNA or RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds are called a base pair (often abbreviated bp). ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand-millionth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. ...

Phages are estimated to be the most widely distributed and diverse entities in the biosphere.^[1] Phages are ubiquitous and can be found in all reservoirs populated by bacterial hosts, such as soil or the intestine of animals. One of the densest natural sources for phages and other viruses is sea water, where up to 10⁹ virions per milliliter have been found at the surface, and up to 70% of marine bacteria may be infected by phages.^[2] They are also found in drinking water and in some foods, including fermented vegetables and meats e.g. pickles, salami, where they serve the function of controlling any growth of bacteria. For other uses, see Biosphere (disambiguation). ... Phyla Actinobacteria Aquificae Chlamydiae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Lentisphaerae Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Verrucomicrobia Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are unicellular microorganisms. ... This article is about biological infectious particles. ...

They have been used for over 60 years as an alternative to antibiotics in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. They are now seen as a hope against multi drug resistant strains of many bacteria. However, in the case of MRSA, a phage infecting it produces the toxin and makes it more virulent and difficult to contain. MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a bacterium that has developed antibiotic resistance, first to penicillin in 1947, and later to methicillin. ...

Classification of phages

The dsDNA tailed phages, or Caudovirales, account for 95% of all the phages reported in the scientific literature, and possibly make up the majority of phages on the planet.^[1] However, there are other phages that occur abundantly in the biosphere, phages with different virions, genomes and lifestyles. Phages are classified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) according to morphology and nucleic acid.

all of these are different from each other and differ in size

History

Since ancient times, there have been documented reports of river water having the ability to cure infectious diseases, such as leprosy. In 1896, Ernest Hanbury Hankin reported that something in the waters of the Ganges and Jumna rivers in India had marked antibacterial action against cholera and could pass through a very fine porcelain filter. In 1915, British bacteriologist Frederick Twort, superintendent of the Brown Institution of London, discovered a small agent that infected and killed bacteria. He considered the agent either 1) a stage in the life cycle of the bacteria, 2) an enzyme produced by the bacteria themselves or 3) a virus that grew on and destroyed the bacteria. Twort's work was interrupted by the onset of World War I and shortage of funding. Independently, French-Canadian microbiologist Félix d'Hérelle, working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, announced on September 3, 1917 that he had discovered "an invisible, antagonistic microbe of the dysentery bacillus". For d’Hérelle, there was no question as to the nature of his discovery: "In a flash I had understood: what caused my clear spots was in fact an invisible microbe ... a virus parasitic on bacteria." D'Hérelle called the virus a bacteriophage or bacteria-eater (from the Greek phago meaning to eat). He also recorded a dramatic account of a man suffering from dysentery who was restored to good health by the bacteriophages. In 1926 in the Pulitzer-prizewinning novel Arrowsmith, Sinclair Lewis fictionalized the application of bacteriophages as a therapeutic agent. Also in the 1920s the Eliava Institute was opened in Tbilisi, Georgia to research this new science and put it into practice. In 2006 the UK Ministry of Defence took responsibility for a G8-funded Global Partnership Priority Eliava Project as a retrospective study to explore the potential of bacteriophages for the 21st century. For the malady found in the Hebrew Bible, see the article Tzaraath. ... Ernest Hanbury Hankin (February 4, 1865- March 29, 1939), was a British bacteriologist, aeronautical theorist and naturalist. ... “Ganga” redirects here. ... The river Yamuna is a major river of northern India, with a total length of around 1370 km. ... An antiseptic is a substance that kills or prevents the growth of bacteria on the external surfaces of the body. ... Cholera (or Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera) is an extreme diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. ... Microbiology (in Greek micron = small and biologia = studying life) is the study of microorganisms, including unicellular (single-celled) eukaryotes and prokaryotes, fungi, and viruses. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... Life cycle refers to: Biological life cycle New product development Honeybee life cycle This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Ribbon diagram of the enzyme TIM, surrounded by the space-filling model of the protein. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Canadiens redirects here. ... An agar plate streaked with microorganisms Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. ... Félix dHerelle. ... The Pasteur Institute (French: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, microorganisms, diseases and vaccines. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Dysentery (formerly known as flux or the bloody flux) is frequent, small-volume, severe diarrhea that shows blood in the feces along with intestinal cramping and tenesmus (painful straining to pass stool). ... This article could benefit from improvement in writing style to reach the quality described in the guide to writing the perfect article. ... Tbilisi (Georgian თბილისი) — is the capital city of the country Georgia, located on the shore of Kura (Mtkvari) river, at 41°43′N 44°47′E. Tbilisi is also known by its former Turkish name Tiflis. ...

Replication

Bacteriophages may have a lytic cycle or a lysogenic cycle, but a few viruses are capable of carrying out both. With lytic phages such as the T4 phage, bacterial cells are broken open (lysed) and destroyed after immediate replication of the virion. As soon as the cell is destroyed, the new bacteriophages viruses can find new hosts. Lytic phages are the kind suitable for phage therapy. The lytic cycle is one of the two cycles of viral reproduction, the other being the lysogenic cycle. ... Lysogeny, or the lysogenic cycle, is one of two methods of viral reproduction (the lytic cycle is the other). ... Enterobacteria phage T4 is a phage that infects E. coli bacteria. ...

In contrast, the lysogenic cycle does not result in immediate lysing of the host cell. Those phages able to undergo lysogeny are known as temperate phages. Their viral genome will integrate with host DNA and replicate along with it fairly harmlessly, or may even become established as a plasmid. The virus remains dormant until host conditions deteriorate, perhaps due to depletion of nutrients, then the endogenous phages (known as prophages) become active. At this point they initiate the reproductive cycle resulting in lysis of the host cell. As the lysogenic cycle allows the host cell to continue to survive and reproduce, the virus is reproduced in all of the cell’s offspring. Figure 1: Illustration of a bacterium with plasmids enclosed showing chromosomal DNA and plasmids. ... Look up Endogenous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Sometimes prophages may provide benefits to the host bacterium while they are dormant by adding new functions to the bacterial genome in a phenomenon called lysogenic conversion. A famous example is the conversion of a harmless strain of Vibrio cholerae by a phage into a highly virulent one, which causes cholera. This is why temperate phages are not suitable for phage therapy. In biology the genome of an organism is the whole hereditary information of an organism that is encoded in the DNA (or, for some viruses, RNA). ... Lysogenic conversion is when a temperate phage induces a change in the phenotype of the bacteria infected that is not part of a usual phage cycle. ... Binomial name Vibrio cholerae Pacini 1854 Vibrio cholerae is a gram negative bacterium with a curved-rod shape that causes cholera in humans. ... Cholera (or Asiatic cholera or epidemic cholera) is an extreme diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. ...

Attachment and penetration

A colored electron micrograph of multiple bacteriophages

An electron micrograph of bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell. These viruses are the size and shape of coliphage T1

To enter a host cell, bacteriophages attach to specific receptors on the surface of bacteria, including lipopolysaccharides, teichoic acids, proteins or even flagella. This specificity means that a bacteriophage can only infect certain bacteria bearing receptors that they can bind to, which in turn determines the phage's host range. As phage virions do not move independently, they must rely on random encounters with the right receptors when in solution (blood, lymphatic circulation, irrigation, soil water etc.). Image File history File links The use of this file has been permitted by the owner. ... Image File history File links The use of this file has been permitted by the owner. ... An electron micrograph is a micrograph made with an electron microscope. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 512 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1480 × 1733 pixels, file size: 452 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Electron micrograph of bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 512 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1480 × 1733 pixels, file size: 452 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Electron micrograph of bacteriophages attached to a bacterial cell. ... An electron micrograph is a micrograph made with an electron microscope. ... Lipopolysaccharide (captions are in French) Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a large molecule consisting of a lipid and a polysaccharide (carbohydrate) joined by a covalent bond. ... Teichoic acids are polymers of glycerol or ribitol linked via phosphodiester bonds. ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... A flagellum (plural, flagella) is a whip-like organelle that many unicellular organisms, and some multicellular ones, use to move about. ...

Complex bacteriophages use a syringe-like motion to inject their genetic material into the cell. After making contact with the appropriate receptor, the tail fibers bring the base plate closer to the surface of the cell. Once attached completely, the tail contracts, possibly with the help of ATP present in the tail (Prescott, 1993), injecting genetic material through the bacterial membrane. This article is about biological infectious particles. ... Adenosine 5-triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide that is most important as a molecular currency of intracellular energy transfer. ...

Synthesis of proteins and nucleic acid

Within minutes, bacterial ribosomes start translating viral mRNA into protein. For RNA-based phages, RNA replicase is synthesized early in the process. Proteins modify the bacterial RNA polymerase so that it preferentially transcribes viral mRNA. The host’s normal synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids is disrupted, and it is forced to manufacture viral products instead. These products go on to become part of new virions within the cell, helper proteins which help assemble the new virions, or proteins involved in cell lysis. Walter Fiers (University of Ghent, Belgium) was the first to establish the complete nucleotide sequence of a gene (1972) and of the viral genome of Bacteriophage MS2 (1976).^[3] Figure 1: Ribosome structure indicating small subunit (A) and large subunit (B). ... RNA replicase is a polymerase enzyme that catalyzes the self-replication of single-stranded RNA. it is RNA dependent RNA plwhich is not haVING PRROFREEDING ACTIVITY. THIS IS ANOTHER EXTENSION IN THE CENTRADOGMA. IT IS MADE UP OF THREE SUBUNIT. Categories: | ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the biological definition of the word Lysis. ... Walter Fiers was born in Ieper (Belgium) in 1931. ... Ghent University (in Dutch, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated UGent) is one of the two large Flemish universities. ... The bacteriophage MS2 or Bacillus phage M2 (Caudovirales, Podoviridae) infects Bacillus subtilis. ...

Virion assembly

Diagram of bacteriophage structure

In the case of the T4 phage, the construction of new virus particles involves the assistance of helper proteins. The base plates are assembled first, with the tails being built upon them afterwards. The head capsids, constructed separately, will spontaneously assemble with the tails. The DNA is packed efficiently within the heads. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Image File history File links Tevenphage. ... Image File history File links Tevenphage. ... Enterobacteria phage T4 is a phage that infects E. coli bacteria. ...

Release of virions

Phages may be released via cell lysis or by host cell secretion. In the case of the T4 phage, in just over twenty minutes after injection upwards of three hundred phages will be released via lysis within a certain timescale. This is achieved by an enzyme called endolysin which attacks and breaks down the peptidoglycan. In contrast, "lysogenic" phages do not kill the host but rather become long-term parasites and make the host cell continually secrete more new virus particles. The new virions bud off the plasma membrane, taking a portion of it with them to become enveloped viruses possessing a viral envelope. All released virions are capable of infecting a new bacterium. Enterobacteria phage T4 is a phage that infects E. coli bacteria. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Peptidoglycan, also known as murein, is a polymer consisting of sugars and amino acids that forms a mesh-like layer outside the plasma membrane of eubacteria. ... Lysogeny is the fusion of the nucleic acid of a bacteriophage with that of a host bacterium so that the potential exists for the newly integrated genetic material to be transmitted to daughter cells at each subsequent cell division. ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... This article is about biological infectious particles. ...

Phage Therapy

Main article: Phage therapy

A 3D rendering of a T4 type bacteriophage landing on a bacterium to inject genetic material

Phages were discovered to be anti-bacterial agents and put to use as such, with varying success as more was learned about them. However, antibiotics were discovered some years later and marketed widely, popular because of their broad spectrum; also easier to manufacture in bulk, store and prescribe. Hence development of phage therapy was largely abandoned in the West, but phage therapy continued throughout 1940s in the former Soviet Union for successfully treating bacterial infections, with widespread use including the soldiers in the Red Army - much of the literature being in Russian or Georgian, and unavailable for many years in the West. A 3D rendering showing T4 type bacteriophages landing on a bacterium to inject genetic material. ... Image File history File links Trialphage. ... Image File history File links Trialphage. ... Staphylococcus aureus - Antibiotics test plate. ... A compass rose with west highlighted This article refers to the cardinal direction; for other uses see West (disambiguation). ... A 3D rendering showing T4 type bacteriophages landing on a bacterium to inject genetic material. ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ...

The evolution of bacterial strains through natural selection that are resistant to antibiotics e.g.MRSA has recently led Western scientists to re-evaluate phages as viable alternatives to antibiotics. Unlike antibiotics, phages adapt naturally and very quickly along with the bacteria, as they have done for millions of years, so a sustained resistance is unlikely. Unlike pharmaceuticals, when an effective phage is found it will seek out the bacteria and continue to replicate and kill bacteria of that type until they are all gone. Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a microorganism to withstand the effects of an antibiotic. ...

Each specific type of phage often infects only one specific type of bacterium (ranging from several species, to only certain subtypes within a species), so a practitioner takes care to identify the correct type of bacteria, which takes about 24 hours. An added advantage is that no other bacteria are attacked, making it work similarly to a narrow spectrum antibiotic. They do not deplete the body's natural source of friendly bacteria, e.g. in the gut and the mouth, and do not build up in the food chain, unlike antibiotics. Sometimes mixes/cocktails of several strains of phage are supplied to create a broader spectrum cure that is also more likely to tackle a poly-microbial biofilm, as in a chronic infection. Phages can be applied topically and orally, but are less likely to be applied intravenously because, as with any virus, they can be vulnerable to the body's immune system. A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange). ...

Phages work in direct contact with the infection, so they are applied directly to an open wound or biofilm e.g. sinuses, boils, interdental cavities and ulcers. There are very large numbers of individual successes, anecdotal evidence and case studies in the former USSR- including where other therapies had failed. Many researchers studying infectious diseases have little doubt that phage therapy has a contribution to make and will achieve mainstream medical relevance in the 21st century. Large clinical trials from Poland have reported the efficacy of phage therapy, and research continues because of the alarming rise of multiple antibiotic resistance worldwide. Phase 2 human clinical trials are nearing completion in a London hospital with ear infections, and Phase 1 clinical trials are taking place in Lubbock, Texas in a wound care context.

Georgia in Eastern Europe continues to use phage treatments for most local patients with bacterial infections and also visitors from overseas at the Phage Therapy Center in Tbilisi. Patients from Western countries that had been told amputation was their only option, have been cured of their infections in Georgia, thus saving a limb and in the case of diabetic foot infections this can lengthen life expectancy^{[citation needed]}. Phage cocktails are available without prescription in Georgian pharmacies at very low cost. Phage therapy is also available now in Wroclaw at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Wrocław, ( [:vrɔʦwaf]), German Breslau, Czech Vratislav, Latin Wratislavia; many Polish documents in English use the spelling Wroclaw) is the capital of Silesia in southwestern Poland, situated on the Oder River (Odra). ...

Bacteriophage in the Environment

Some time ago it was detected that phages are much more abundant in the water column of freshwater and marine habitats than previously thought and that they can cause significant mortality of bacterioplankton. Methods in phage community ecology have been developed to assess phage-induced mortality of bacterioplankton and its role for food web process and biogeochemical cycles, to genetically fingerprint phage communities or populations and estimate viral biodiversity by metagenomics. The release of lysis products by phages converts organic carbon from particulate (cells) to dissolved forms (lysis products), which makes organic carbon more bio-available and thus acts as a catalyst of geochemical nutrient cycles. Phages are not only the most abundant biological entities but probably also the most diverse ones. The majority of the sequence data obtained from phage communities has no equivalent in data bases. These data and other detailed analyses indicate that phage-specific genes and ecological traits are much more frequent than previously thought. In order to reveal the meaning of this genetic and ecological versatility, studies have to be performed with communities and at spatiotemporal scales relevant for microorganisms.^[1] Bacterioplankton refers to the bacterial component of the plankton that drifts in the water column. ... The field of biogeochemistry involves scientific study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the hydrosphere, the pedosphere, the atmosphere, and the lithosphere), and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earths chemical... Rainforests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth. ... Metagenomics (also Environmental Genomics or Community Genomics) is the study of genomes recovered from environmental samples as opposed to from clonal cultures. ... This article is about the biological definition of the word Lysis. ...

Bacteriophages and Food Fermentations

A broad number of food products, commodity chemicals, and biotechnology products are manufactured industrially by large-scale bacterial fermentation of various organic substrates. Because enormous amounts of bacteria are being cultivated each day in large fermentation vats, the risk that bacteriophage contamination rapidly brings fermentations to a halt and cause economical setbacks is a serious threat in these industries. The relationship between bacteriophages and their bacterial hosts is very important in the context of the food fermentation industry. Sources of phage contamination, measures to control their propagation and dissemination, and biotechnological defense strategies developed to restrain phages are of interest. The dairy fermentation industry has openly acknowledged the problem of phage and has been working with academia and starter culture companies to develop defense strategies and systems to curtail the propagation and evolution of phages for decades.^[1] The structure of insulin Biotechnology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ... Fermentation in progress Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast. ... The Lachine Canal, in Montreal, is badly polluted Pollution is the release of harmful environmental contaminants, or the substances so released. ... Look up propagation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Other areas of use

In August, 2006 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved using bacteriophages on certain meats to kill the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, giving them GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe). [1] Government agencies in the West have for several years been looking to Georgia and the Former Soviet Union for help with exploiting phages for counteracting bioweapons and toxins e.g. Anthrax, Botulism. There are many developments with this amongst research groups in the US. Other uses include spray application in horticulture for protecting plants and vegetable produce from decay and the spread of bacterial disease. Other applications for bacteriophages are as a biocide for environmental surfaces e.g. hospitals - and as a preventative treatment for catheters and medical devices prior to use in clinical settings. The technology now exists for phages to be applied to dry surfaces e.g. uniforms, curtains - even sutures for surgery. Clinical trials reported in the Lancet show success in veterinary treatment of pet dogs with otitis. Phage display is a different use of phages. It is a powerful yet simple technique involving a library of phages. Each one has a slightly different peptide display. You can scan through the library to find a specific peptide that has a desired property - for example one that binds very tightly to Botulism toxin to neutralize it. Potentially it can then be used as a therapy. Another use of bacteriophages is by the company Cambrios Technologies. Its founder, Dr. Angela Belcher^[4], pioneered the use of the M13 bacteriophage to create nanowires and electrodes. She started her research by studying how abalone create their shells from calcium carbonate in sea water. She took this concept and applied it to bacteriophages. One of her ventures consisted of implanting gold and cobalt oxide in a bacteriophage to create a paper-thin electrode. The gold was for conductivity. The cobalt oxide was for the actual use of the battery^[5]. The United States Food and Drug Administration is the government agency responsible for regulating food, dietary supplements, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, biologics and blood products in the United States. ... Binomial name Murray (1926) Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium, in the division Firmicutes, named for Joseph Lister. ... Species Many, see species section. ...

Model bacteriophages

Following is a list of bacteriophages that are extensively studied:

• λ phage - Lysogen
• T2 phage
• T4 phage (169 to 170 kbp, 200 nm long)
• T7 phage
• T12 phage
• R17 phage
• M13 phage
• MS2 phage (23-25 nm in size)
• G4 phage
• P1 phage
• P2 phage
• Phi-X174 phage
• N4 phage
• Φ6 phage
• Ф29 phage

Enterobacteria phage λ (lambda phage) is a temperate bacteriophage that infects Escherichia coli. ... A lysogen or lysogenic phage is a phage that does not go into a lytic cycle but instead either integrates into the host bacterias chromosome or lives as a stable plasmid within the host cell. ... Enterobacteria phage T2 is a virulent bacteriophage of the T4-like viruses genus, in the family Myoviridae. ... Enterobacteria phage T4 is a phage that infects E. coli bacteria. ... Base pairs, of a DNA molecule. ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand-millionth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. ... Bacteriophage T7 Capsid size The T7 capsid is spherical with an inner diameter of 55 nm. ... M13 is a filamentous bacteriophage composed of single stranded DNA (ssDNA 6407 nucleotides long) encapsulated in approximately 2700 copies of the major coat protein P8, and capped with 5 copies of two different minor coat proteins (P9, P6, P3) on the ends. ... The bacteriophage MS2 or Bacillus phage M2 (Caudovirales, Podoviridae) infects Bacillus subtilis. ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer, symbol nm) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand-millionth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. ... P1 is a temperate bacteriophage (phage). ... The Phi-X174 phage was the first organism to have its genome sequenced. ... Φ6 is the best-studied bacteriophage of the virus family Cystoviridae. ... Φ29 (Phi 29) belongs to a family of related Bacteriophages which includes, in addition to Φ29, phages PZA, Φ15, BS32, B103, M2Y (M2), Nf and GA-1. ...

See also

• RNA viruses
• DNA viruses
• Phage ecology
• Phage experimental evolution

An RNA virus is a virus that either uses RNA as its genetic material, or whose genetic material passes through an RNA intermediate during replication. ... A DNA virus is a virus belonging to either Group I or Group II of the Baltimore classification system for viruses. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

• Häusler, T. (2006) "Viruses vs. Superbugs", Macmillan
• Filby, G. (2007) "The Health Value Of Bacteriophages" Winston Churchill Fellowship
• Wolcott, R. (2007) Case Studies at the Wound Care Center, Lubbock, Texas
• [Curtin JJ, Donlan RM (2006)Using bacteriophages to reduce formation of catheter-associated biofilms by Staphylococcus epidermidis, Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 2006 Apr; 50(4) 1268-75]
• Biocontrol Ltd., UK
• Phage Therapy Center, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Evergreen State College material on bacteriophages
• Phage.org general information on bacteriophages
• Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute
• Overview of Polish clinical trials
• Felix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses
• Phage monographs (a comprehensive listing of phage and phage-associated monographs, 1921-present)
• August 2007 news article from the BBC

Bacteriophage (phage) are viruses of bacteria. ...

External links

• Focus on use in burn treatment
• Toxin-Phage Bacteriocide as an Antibiotic Therapy
• Stalin's Forgotten Cure
• FDA rules that spraying phage on meat is safe
• Therapeutic use of bacteriophages in bacterial infections Polish Academy of Sciences, The Center for Phage Therapy
• The New Phage Biology: From Genomics to Applications McAuliffe et al (2007)
• Bacteriophage
• Special Phage Services: An Australian biopharmaceutical company which develops and commercialises bacteriophage therapy products