Biophysical studies of the Pf1 coat protein in the filamentous phage, in detergent micelles, and in a membrane environment

Abstract

During the assembly of the Pf1 phage, the membrane-bound coat proteins convert into subunits of the filamentous phage. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) transmission spectroscopy has been applied to a study of the secondary structure of these coat proteins when present (a) in the phage, (b) in detergent micelles, and (c) in a phospholipid membrane aqueous system. Suspensions of the Pf1 phage in H2O and 2H2O show an amide I band at 1652 cm-1, indicative of a high content of the alpha-helical structure present.…