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. 2024 Oct 1;15:8482. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52752-1

Fig. 9. Proposed model for DEV absorption onto P. aeruginosa surface and genome ejection.

Fig. 9

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 gp73 forms an OM pore, gp72 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. Figure 9, created with BioRender.com, released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license.