The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Armata Publishes Near-Atomic Structural Atlas of Pseudomonas Phage Ar-KM, Illuminating Genome Ejection Mechanism

- Armata Pharmaceuticals announced a Journal of Molecular Biology paper presenting an integrative structural atlas of Ar-KM, a phiKMV-like bacteriophage targeting Pseudomonas aeruginosa. - Using cryo-electron microscopy, proteomics and bioinformatics, researchers captured three distinct phage particle states and built atomic models for eleven structural proteins at near-atomic resolution. - The work identifies an enzyme activity aiding bacterial cell envelope penetration and a previously unrecognized protein enabling coordinated genome release and delivery. - Armata said it is now extending cryo-EM reconstruction to its proprietary Staphylococcus aureus phages, following four publications characterizing its Pseudomonas phages.