Proteolysis of bacteriophage φX174 prohead accessory protein gpB by Escherichia coli OmpT protease is not essential for phage maturation in vivo

To examine whether cleavage of the φX174 prohead accessory protein, gpB, by the OmpT protease is required for phage development in vivo, a phage mutant lacking the OmpT cleavage site and an Escherichia coli C ΔompT strain were constructed. The results of burst size experiments suggest that neither the cleavage site nor the OmpT protein is required for φX174 development.