page_title: Escherichia virus T4
hierarchical_section_title: Escherichia virus T4
caption_attribution_description: English: Atomic structural model of bacteriophage t4 in UCSF Chimera software using pdbs of the individual proteins. By Dr Victor Padilla-Sanchez, PhD (Washington DC)
context_page_description: Escherichia virus T4 is a species of bacteriophages that infect Escherichia coli bacteria. It is a double-stranded DNA virus in the subfamily Tevenvirinae from the family Myoviridae. T4 is capable of undergoing only a lytic lifecycle and not the lysogenic lifecycle. The species was formerly named T-even bacteriophage, a name which also encompasses, among other strains, Enterobacteria phage T2, Enterobacteria phage T4 and Enterobacteria phage T6.
  Bacteriophage means to "eat bacteria", and phages are well known for being obligate intracellular parasites that reproduce within the host cell and are released when the host is destroyed by lysis. Containing about 160 genes, these virulent viruses are among the largest, most complex viruses that are known and one of the best studied model organisms. They have played a key role in the development of virology and molecular biology.
context_section_description: Escherichia virus T4 is a species of bacteriophages that infect Escherichia coli bacteria. It is a double-stranded DNA virus in the subfamily Tevenvirinae from the family Myoviridae.  T4 is capable of undergoing only a lytic lifecycle and not the lysogenic lifecycle. The species was formerly named  T-even bacteriophage, a name which also encompasses, among other strains (or isolates), Enterobacteria phage T2, Enterobacteria phage T4 and Enterobacteria phage T6.
  Bacteriophage means to "eat bacteria", and phages are well known for being obligate intracellular parasites that reproduce within the host cell and are released when the host is destroyed by lysis.  Containing about 160 genes, these virulent viruses are among the largest, most complex viruses that are known and one of the best studied model organisms. They have played a key role in the development of virology and molecular biology.
caption: Atomic structural model of Bacteriophage T4. By Dr Victor Padilla-Sanchez, PhD (Washington Metropolitan University, Washington DC)