by: Michael Carpenter and Ana Strachan
For our project, we decided to build a bacteriophage to help us study for the final exam. Using repurposed items (mostly) around our houses we constructed this large bacteriophage. A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria. The structures which we depicted are the capsid which protects the nucleic acids seen inside of it which can be DNA or RNA. A collar helped to support the capsid. The tail which allows the nucleic acid to pass through during infection of a host. Attached to the baseplate at the bottom of the tail are the tail fibers have chemical receptors to help find and attach to a potential host. The baseplate contains components that forms a more permanent bond to the host. Once the bacteriophage is secured to the host the sheath around the tail contracts helping to break into the envelope.
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