Icosahedral bacteriophage ΦX174 forms a tail for DNA transport during infection

Here, the atomic structure of a virally encoded, cell-wall-spanning, DNA-translocating conduit from bacteriophage ΦX174 is described. This paper presents the first atomic structure of a virally encoded, cell-wall-spanning, DNA translocating conduit. Many bacteriophages use a tail to transport their DNA across the bacterial cell wall, whereas filamentous and tail-less phages rely on host-encoded channels. The phage ΦX174 is a small, tail-less...