Dynamic adhesion device of phage OE33PA drives Gram-positive host recognition

Cryo-EM structures of the Oenococcus oeni siphophage OE33PA reveal a dynamic adhesion device, including a mobile carbohydrate-binding module, that mediates Gram-positive host recognition.

• Why it matters: Gram-positive phages must engage receptors through thick cell walls, but the structural basis for host binding and how adhesion devices change during attachment has been unclear.
• What they did: The team solved high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structures of OE33PA and used in situ cryo-electron tomography to capture distinct conformations upon host attachment, plus functional assays to test a distal tail protein module.
• The result: The receptor-binding proteins adopt multiple orientations, tomography shows distinct attachment conformations, and the distal tail carbohydrate-binding module is linked to host cell binding, while the tape measure protein forms a hexameric organization.

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