Figure 8. Model for DEV absorption onto P. aeruginosa surface and genome ejection.

Three proposed steps of infection are shown: each step is accompanied by distinct conformations of the long and short-tail fibers. (A) DEV interacts with the host O-antigen through flexible long-tail fibers (gp53), possibly reorienting the virion to land perpendicular to the OM. (B) The short-tail fiber gp56 interacts with a secondary receptor in the bacterium OM, triggering a conformational change that releases the short fiber. (C) The ejection proteins gp73, gp72, and gp71 are expelled into the bacterium cell envelope where gp72 forms an OM pore, gp73 spans the periplasm, and gp71 crosses the IM, projecting a large vRNAP motor into the bacterial cytoplasm, that begins pulling the viral genome inside the host. PG = peptidoglycan