Head length control in T4 bacteriophage morphogenesis: effect of canavanine on assembly.

INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 314 Preamble to Capsid Size Determination ...... ............................ 315 T4 HEAD MORPHOGENESIS ........... ................................. 320 Gene Function and Aberrant Structures ....... ........................... 321 Prohead Assembly Pathway ............................................. 322 Role of the Host in Assembly ........... ................................. 324 CHEMICAL INDUCTION OF STRUCTURAL ABERRATIONS .... ......... 325 T4 Head-Related Aberrant Substructures ...... ........................... 325 T4 Tail-Related Aberrant Substructures ....... ........................... 327 Effect of Anti-Metabolites on the Maturation of Specific Gene Products .... 327 Cleavage Reactions in Bacteriophage T5 ....... ........................... 331 GIANT BACTERIOPHAGE................................................ 332 Rationale for the Use of Giants in Head Length Control Studies .... ....... 334 Kinetics of Production of Giants by Canavanine ..... ..................... 335 Compartmentalization of Assembly ........ .............................. 338 Properties of Giants ...................................................... 340 Multiplicity of reactivation ........... ................................. 340 Genome length and packaging ......... ................................ 341 Surface morphology ................................................... 343 Mixed-Infection Experiments ........... ................................. 346 CONCLUDING REMARKS................................................ 351 Possible Mechanisms by Which Canavanine Produces Giants .... .......... 351 Size Determination of T4 Heads .......... ................................ 352 Perspectives ........................................................... 355 LITERATURE CITED.................................................... 355