Bacteriophage MS2
 Bacteriophage MS2 (Emesvirus zinderi) is an icosahedral, single-stranded RNA virus
that infects the bacterium Escherichia coli.
Bacteriophage MS2 at 2.8 Å resolution
(1) Golmohammadi, R., Valegård, K., Fridborg, K., Liljas, L. The refined structure of
bacteriophage MS2 at 2.8 Å resolution. J. Mol. Biol. 234, 620-639 (1993).
(2) https://www.rcsb.org/structure/2MS2
(3) Knipe, D. M., Howley, P. M. Fields Virology, 6th Edition: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (2013).
Bacteriophage MS2
 Bacteriophage MS2 is a single-stranded RNA virus encapsulated in an
asymmetric T = 3 pseudo-icosahedral capsid with a diameter of 27 nm.
Structure of bacteriophage MS2
 The type of nucleic acid in bacteriophage MS2 is single-stranded RNA.
 Replication of the single-stranded MS2 genome requires synthesis of the
complementary RNA strand, which can then be used as a template for synthesis of a
new RNA strand.
(1) Calendar, R. Single-Stranded RNA Bacteriophages. The Bacteriophages. 4, 117–167 (1988).
(2) Le Mercier, P. et al. Bacterial Virus Ontology; Coordinating across Databases. Viruses. 9, 126 (2017).
Bacteriophage MS2 in Environmental Engineering
 Bacteriophage MS2 has applications in testing water for the presence of coliphages
and in estimating the efficiency of water treatment plants and filtration devices.
MS2 Coliphage Reductions by Ozone, Chlorine Dioxide, Chlorine and Chloramine
(1) Jolis, D., Hirano, R., Pitt, P. A. Tertiary Treatment Using Microfiltration and UV Disinfection for Water Reclamation. Water Environ. Res. 71, 224-231 (1999).
(2) Lykins Jr, B. W., Koffskey, W. E., Patterson, K. S. Alternative disinfectants for drinking water treatment. J. Environ. Eng. 120, 745-758 (1994).
(3) Hoagland, J. E. et al. Testing the equivalency of ultraviolet light and chlorine for disinfection of wastewater. Water Environ. Res. 69, 14-24 (1997).
(4) Gerberding, J. L. et al. Effect of testing method on apparent activities of antiviral disinfectants and antiseptics. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39, 921-923 (1995).