Escherichia virus G4 is a
bacteriophage that infects ''
E. coli''.
First isolated in 1973, the phage was originally isolated from samples of raw sewage and has 5,577 nucleotides. Its isometric
capsid
A capsid is the protein shell of a virus, enclosing its genetic material. It consists of several oligomeric (repeating) structural subunits made of protein called protomers. The observable 3-dimensional morphological subunits, which may or ma ...
contains a single-stranded circular
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...
of about 5.5
kbp. Phage G4 bears high genetic and structural similarity to the phage
ΦX174, though the two phage genomes are up to 39 percent different by sequence.
Synthetic G4
Synthetic G4 (syn-G4) has the appearance of an icosahedral protein shell and is 50 nm in diameter. has been synthesized through
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete or partial) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) ...
assembly of short
oligonucleotide
Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules, oligomers, that have a wide range of applications in genetic testing, research, and forensics. Commonly made in the laboratory by solid-phase chemical synthesis, these small bits of nucleic acids ...
s. The synthetic phage G4 genomes were effective in ''
E. coli''.
Phage Therapy
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are mainly caused by uropathogenic E. coli, and bacteriophage G4 can be used to treat it. The bacteriophage inject their DNA into the bacteria, releasing many new bacteriophages. This process has many benefits:
# The bacteriophage do not attack animal or human cells, only E. coli bacteria.
# The bacteriophage reproduce exponentially, so only a small amount is needed.
# After the bacteriophage have attached and killed all the bacteria, they disperse throughout the body and are harmless.
References
External links
UniProt TaxonomyNCBI TaxonomyNCBI Nucleotide (full genome)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5380215
Microviridae