X-Ray Investigations of M-5 and T-2 Bacteriophage

Abstract

IN an effort to use X-rays to examine the structure and organization of viruses that cannot be crystallized or arranged in paracrystalline arrays, attempts were made to apply the fibre-pulling technique. This method was used successfully in studies of the structure of DNA. Reasoning that bodies with large axial ratios behave essentially as rod-like objects in flow orientation phenomena, alignment or orientation of two viruses was attempted by the fibre-pulling method. These two viruses were: the bacteriophage M-5 (virus of B. megatherium) and bacteriophage T-2 (virus of E. coli). M-5 was chosen by virtue of its extremely large axial ratio. Its head is essentially spheroidal in shape with a diameter of 700 Å. and length 3000 å. ¹. It was felt that such a long virus would give better orientation than T-2 phage in the fibre-pulling process. Since Bendet, Goldstein and Lauffer reported² good results in the orientation of T-2 phage by streaking pellets of the virus, it was decided to try to orient T-2 phage also by the fibre method.