Structural aberrations in T-even bacteriophage: I. Specificity of induction of aberrations

Abstract

Aberrant bacteriophage substructures were produced by the addition of amino acid analogs and antimetabolites to cultures of infected cells. As was shown previously, the arginine analog l-canavanine specifically induced polyhead formation; the histidine analog 1,2,4-triazole-3-alanine gave rise to small heads; and l-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid led to the production of polytail tubes. We have now found that other arginine analogs (homoarginine, hydroxylysine) were ineffective in producing structural aberrations of the bacteriophage head. Dimethyl sulfoxide, which is known to disrupt the bond between the head and tail, induced polyhead formation. An additional histidine analog, 2-thiazolealanine, also gave rise to small heads. The polyamines, putrescine, cadaverine, and 1,3-diaminopropane induced small head formation, whereas spermine, spermidine, and agmatine exhibited no effect on head formation. Another proline analog, 1-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid did induce polytail tubes, but not as effectively as the proline analog tested before.