Bacteriophage f2

Bacteriophage f2 is an icosahedral, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus that infects the bacterium Escherichia coli.^[1] It is closely related to bacteriophage MS2 and assigned to the same species.^[2]

Bacteriophage f2
Virus classification
(unranked):	Virus
Realm:	Riboviria
Kingdom:	Orthornavirae
Phylum:	Lenarviricota
Class:	Leviviricetes
Order:	Norzivirales
Family:	Fiersviridae
Genus:	Emesvirus
Species:	Emesvirus zinderi
Strain:	Bacteriophage f2

History

f2 was the first RNA-containing bacteriophage to be isolated, reported in 1961.^[3] Tim Loeb and Norton Zinder identified two phages in filtered samples of raw New York City sewage that grew on male (F+) but not on female (F−) E. coli. The first phage f1, produced cloudy plaques, while the second phage, f2, produced clear plaques.^[1]