VIRION
Non-enveloped, head-tail structure. The capsid is about 90 nm in diameter, with a T=13 icosahedral symmetry 
. It is composed of 11 pentamers at the vertices and 120 hexamers on the faces. The tail is about 160 nm in length and 9 nm in width, with a subterminal disk and 3 long kinked fibers (120 nm). There is also a conical tip with a single straight central fiber (50 nm).
GENOME
Linear, dsDNA genome of about 121 kb, containing about 160 genes.
GENE EXPRESSION
REPLICATION
CYTOPLASMIC
- Adsorption: The phage attaches to target cell adhesion receptors through its tail fibers.
- Viral exolysin degrades host cell wall locally.
- Ejection by long flexible tail ejection system: viral DNA is injected in host cell cytoplasm.
- Transcription and translation of early genes.
- Replication of genomic DNA by DNA strand displacement replication.
- Transcription and translation of late genes
- Assembly of an empty procapsid and packaging of the genome.
- Viral tail fibers assembly and viral tail assembly.
- Mature virions are released from the cell by lysis.