Microbiology, Institute of Biology, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
Rochester Institute of Technology, Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester, NY 14620, USA.
Viruses. 2022 Mar 28;14(4):700. doi: 10.3390/v14040700.
Viruses are biochemically complex structures and mainly consist of folded proteins that contain nucleic acids. Bacteriophage T4 is one of most prominent examples, having a tail structure that contracts during the infection process. Intracellular phage multiplication leads to separate self-directed assembly reactions of proheads, tails and tail fibers. The proheads are packaged with concatemeric DNA produced by tandem replication reactions of the parental DNA molecule. Once DNA packaging is completed, the head is joined with the tail and six long fibers are attached. The mature particles are then released from the cell via lysis, another tightly regulated process. These processes have been studied in molecular detail leading to a fascinating view of the protein-folding dynamics that direct the structural interplay of assembled complexes. Lindsay W. Black dedicated his career to identifying and defining the molecular events required to form the T4 virion. He leaves us with rich insights into the astonishingly precise molecular clockwork that co-ordinates all of the players in T4 assembly, both viral and cellular. Here, we summarize Lindsay's key research contributions that are certain to stimulate our future science for many years to come.
病毒是具有复杂生化结构的微生物，主要由折叠的蛋白质和核酸组成。T4 噬菌体就是一个非常典型的例子，其尾部结构在感染过程中会发生收缩。在细胞内，噬菌体的繁殖会引发一系列独立的自我导向的头部、尾部和尾部纤维的组装反应。头部用串联复制反应产生的串联 DNA 进行包装。一旦 DNA 包装完成，头部与尾部结合，然后连接 6 根长纤维。成熟的颗粒通过裂解从细胞中释放出来，这是另一个受到严格调控的过程。这些过程已经在分子细节上进行了研究，揭示了指导组装复合物结构相互作用的蛋白质折叠动力学的迷人视图。Lindsay W. Black 毕生致力于确定和定义形成 T4 病毒所需的分子事件。他为我们提供了对 T4 组装中所有病毒和细胞成分的惊人精确的分子钟表机制的深入了解。在这里，我们总结了 Lindsay 的主要研究贡献，这些贡献肯定会激发我们未来多年的科学研究。
