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Volume 148, Issue 5

The cell surface protein Ag43 facilitates phage infection of in the presence of bile salts and carbohydrates Free

Abstract

It was found that infection of by bacteriophage λ is inhibited in the presence of certain bile salts and carbohydrates when cells are in the ’OFF’ state for production of the phase-variable cell surface protein antigen 43 (Ag43). The inhibition of phage growth was found to be due to a significant impairment in the process of phage adsorption. Expression of the gene encoding Ag43 () from a plasmid or inactivation of the gene (encoding an activator of genes important for defence against oxidative stress) suppressed this inhibition. A mutation, , in the gene encoding the α subunit of RNA polymerase also facilitated phage adsorption in the presence of bile salts and carbohydrates. The mutation promoted efficient production of Ag43 in a genetic background that would otherwise be in the ’OFF’ phase for expression of the gene. Analysis of a reporter gene fusion demonstrated that the promoter for the gene was more active in the mutant than in the otherwise isogenic strain. The combined inhibitory action of bile salts and carbohydrates on phage adsorption and the abolition of this inhibition by production of Ag43 was not restricted to λ, as a similar phenomenon was observed for the coliphages P1 and T4.

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Keyword(s): antigen 43 , bacteriophage infection , DOC, deoxycholate , MacConkey agar , phase switching , PVP, polyvinylpyrrolidone , RNA polymerase α subunit and WSS Wytwórnia Surowic I Szczepionek
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2002-05-01
2025-12-06

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/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-5-1533
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The cell surface protein Ag43 facilitates phage infection of Escherichia coli in the presence of bile salts and carbohydrates
Microbiology 148, 1533 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-148-5-1533
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-5-1533
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-5-1533
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