Bacteriophage Tail Fibres, Tailspikes, and Bacterial Receptor Interaction

Bacteriophages have specialized receptor binding proteins for initial, specific, but reversible, host cell wall recognition. Once a suitable host is found, the phage commits to infection by irreversible attachment via a secondary interaction. The structures of several of the receptor-binding proteins that mediate these interactions have been solved. They can be long and thin, forming tail fibers, or shorter and stubby, forming tailspikes. Tail fibers and tailspikes are mainly beta-structured, but structurally highly diverse. Mutation of bacteriophage receptor-binding domains may allow retargeting of phages to alternative host bacteria.