Bacteriophage MS2

taxobox
color=violet
virus_group = IV
familia = Leviviridae
genus = Bacteriophage MS2

The bacteriophage MS2. MS2 phage is an icosahedral bacteriophage with a diameter of 27-34nm and an isoelectric point (pI) of 3.9 [Dowd, et al., Delineating the Specific Influence of Virus Isoelectric Point and Size on Virus Adsorption and Transport Through Sandy Soils, AEM, 64:2, 1998 ] . MS2 phage can be propagated in "Escherichia coli", commonly "E. coli" ATCC 15597.

Genetics

This phage has a very small genome which is 3,569 nucleotides long. In 1976 the complete RNA sequence of Bacteriophage MS2 was determined, compared to the DNA sequence of the Phi-X174 phage, which was determined by Fred Sanger and his team in 1977. These two genomes were the first to be determined in scientific history.

In 1962 it was established that the RNA of the phage was in a ring-structure [Fiers, W., and R. L. Sinsheimer, The structure of the DNA of bacteriophage PhiX 174. III. Ultracentrifuge evidence for a ring structure, J. Mol. Biol. 5:424-434, 1962] . In 1972 a gene of Bacteriophage MS2 was the first gene of which the nucleotide sequence was known [Min Jou W, Haegeman G, Ysebaert M, Fiers W., Nucleotide sequence of the gene coding for the bacteriophage MS2 coat protein, Nature. 1972 May 12;237(5350):82-8] [Fiers W, Contreras R, Duerinck F, Haegmean G, Merregaert J, Jou WM, Raeymakers A, Volckaert G, Ysebaert M, Van de Kerckhove J, Nolf F, Van Montagu M., A-protein gene of bacteriophage MS2, Nature. 1975 Jul 24;256(5515):273-8] . In 1976, it was the first complete genome to be sequenced, by Walter Fiers and his team at the University of Ghent (Ghent, Belgium) [Fiers W, Contreras R, De Wachter R, Haegeman G, Merregaert J, Jou WM, Vandenberghe A., Recent progress in the sequence determination of bacteriophage MS2 RNA, Biochimie. 1971;53(4):495-506] [Fiers W, Contreras R, Duerinck F, Haegeman G, Iserentant D, Merregaert J, Min Jou W, Molemans F, Raeymaekers A, Van den Berghe A, Volckaert G, Ysebaert M., Complete nucleotide sequence of bacteriophage MS2 RNA: primary and secondary structure of the replicase gene, Nature. 1976 Apr 8;260(5551):500-7.] .

ee also

* Phi-X174 phage
* Bacteriophage

References