What is Bacteriophage T4?

Bacteriophage T4 is one of seven Escherichia coli phages proposed in 1944 by Delbrück and colleagues as models for research on the phage community. Bacteriophage T4 has a contractile tail and has sensors that can recognize receptor molecules on the host.There are also six short tail fibers folded under the base plate that unfold when the host is recognized. After unfolding, these bind irreversibly to the host cell, increasing the efficiency of infection. After many investigations and studies of the structure and assembly of T4, basic knowledge has been accumulated which could serve as a basis for adapting T4 to medical applications such as antibiotic, gene therapy, vaccine development and targeting defective cells.