by Stephen T. Abedon Ph.D. Steve Abedon, Ph.D., has taught well over 100 individual classes and ~10 individual courses (including introductory biology, microbiology, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) over his 30+ years as a college professor. He has over 150 publications, including multiple monographs, and is ranked in the top 1 or 2 percent among researchers of all disciplines worldwide. His research focuses on bacteriophage biology and phage therapy. (abedon.1@osu.edu)
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phage.org/terms/lateral_tail_fiber.html · Abedon’s Books · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20173633
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Copy numbers range from 3 to 6 (not including 5) per virion.
From Gill and Young (2011), p. 402, "Most Caudovirales encode LTFs, which are generally long and flexible and bind to a specific receptor on the surface of the host cell. LTFs are usually attached to the top of the conical tail tip assembly of siphophages and to the base-plate of myophages, and in some podophages, to the top of the 'stubby' tail. LTFs are assembled by trimerization of protomers, generally catalysed by a specific tail fibre-assembly chaperone which, in some cases, remains associated with the mature tail fibre. In some phages, the entire LTF is composed of a single tail fibre protein, with the N-terminal domains involved in binding to the virion and the receptor-binding domain located at the distal (C-terminus). In more complex phages, like T4, the LTFs are composed of multiple proteins. LTFs have at least one 'knee', where the LTF is bent. It is thought that individual LTFs bind and release rapidly, allowing the virion to 'walk' around the surface of the cell, until irreversible adsorption occurs."
Abedon, S.T. (2026). Phage Terms. https://terms.phage.org · 10.5281/zenodo.20173633
Every term in the Glossary of Bacteriophage Terms. The current page is highlighted purple.