Abstract
A protocol is described for the isolation of mutants of the bacteriophage T4 which are specifically defective in the tail fiber assembly or attachment process. The technique utilizes as a selective factor the observation that fiberless particles sediment in a sucrose gradient more rapidly than do fibered particles. Detailed examination of one of several mutants isolated by this technique showed that the collar/whisker complex (normally located at the head-tail junction) is missing; as a consequence, tail fiber attachment proceeds with some difficulty in vivo and does not occur to any measurable extent in vitro. Evidence is presented which suggests that the collar/whisker complex serves as a transient jig site, recognizing both the proximal and distal moieties of the fibers during the fiber attachment process.
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