A split nozzle and two-protein chain-like fibers define the tail architecture of Pseudomonas aeruginosa podophage A1002.

Mature podophage A1002 infecting carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa has an elongated tail with a split nozzle and chain-like fibers, including 11 adsorption sites.

• Why it matters: Structure-guided phage therapeutic design is hindered by limited high-resolution structures for podophages targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa, especially against drug-resistant strains.
• What they did: Using cryo-EM, the intact mature A1002 structure was resolved and combined with AlphaFold3 predictions to identify 11 head-to-tail structural proteins and define nozzle, fiber, and tube architectures.
• The result: The nozzle-rope protein and two fiber dimers (dimers 1–7 from fiber I/gp40 and dimers 8–11 from fiber II/gp41) form chain-like fibers docked by a double-layered tail tube, providing a molecular blueprint for rational phage therapeutic design.

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