Team discovers new form of virus reproduction

Each small step that science takes to discover how viruses infect cells is always very valuable to researchers and society, since it provides relevant information to fight infections. However, the recent discovery made by the Ikerbasque Professor Nicola Abrescia, at the Center for Cooperative Research CIC bioGUNE, in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, has been more than just a small step. For the first time, a new mechanism used by viruses to infect cells has been described. This mechanism involves the formation of a tube generated with pre-existing lipids and proteins in the structure of the virus. This study, carried out with a virus model system – bacteriophage (infects bacteria) PRD1 – leads the way forward in the fight against bacterial infections such as E. coli or Salmonella. The breakthrough is also very important since the virus that has been analysed is representative of other viruses that infect all the kinds...